Sample records for atomov na tokamake

A small steady-state tokamak capable of producing power in the 100 to 300 MWe range and relying on electron cyclotron RF heating (ECH) for both heating and current drive is described. Working in the first MHD stability regime for tokamaks, the approach adheres to the recently discovered maximum beta limit. An appropriate figure of merit is the ratio of the fusion power to absorbed RF power. Efficient devices are feasible at both small and large values of fusion power, thereby pointing to a development path for an attractive commercial fusion reactor.

The economic prospects of the tokamak are reviewed briefly and found to be favorable - if the size of ignited tokamak plasmas can be kept small and appropriate auxiliary systems can be developed. The main objectives of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory tokamak program are: (1) exploration of the physics of high-temperature toroidal confinement, in TFTR; (2) maximization of the tokamak beta value, in PBX; (3) development of reactor-relevant rf techniques, in PLT.

The FEDC Tokamak Systems Code calculates tokamak performance, cost, and configuration as a function of plasma engineering parameters. This version of the code models experimental tokamaks. It does not currently consider tokamak configurations that generate electrical power or incorporate breeding blankets. The code has a modular (or subroutine) structure to allow independent modeling for each major tokamak component or system. A primary benefit of modularization is that a component module may be updated without disturbing the remainder of the systems code as long as the imput to or output from the module remains unchanged.

Tokamak fusion reactors will have large plasma currents of approximately 10 MA with hundreds of megajoules stored in the magnetic fields. When a major plasma instability occurs, the disruption of the plasma current induces voltage in the adjacent conducting structures, giving rise to large transient currents. The induced voltages may be sufficiently high to cause arcing across sector gaps or from one protruding component to another. This report reviews a tokamak arcing scenario and provides guidelines for designing tokamaks to minimize the possibility of arc damage.

This paper presents an overview of tokamak reactor studies with particular attention to commercial reactor concepts developed within the last three years. Emphasis is placed on DT fueled reactors for electricity production. A brief history of tokamak reactor studies is presented. The STARFIRE, NUWMAK, and HFCTR studies are highlighted. Recent developments that have increased the commercial attractiveness of tokamak reactor designs are discussed. These developments include smaller plant sizes, higher first wall loadings, improved maintenance concepts, steady-state operation, non-divertor particle control, and improved reactor safety features.

Systems studies have been performed at the Fusion Engineering Design Center (FEDC) to assess commercial tokamak options. One study investigates the economics of high-beta operation and determines an optimum operating range of 10 to 20% beta, with a corresponding neutron wall loading of 6 to 8 MW/m/sup 2/. A second study determines conditions under which small, low-power tokamaks can be economically combined into a 1200-MW(electric) multiplex power plant. The results of these studies have directed future efforts at the FEDC toward a high-beta, tokamak design using a modular maintenance configuration.

A modular tokamak system comprised of a plurality of interlocking moldules. Each module is comprised of a vacuum vessel section, a toroidal field coil, moldular saddle coils which generate a poloidal magnetic field and ohmic heating coils.

Advanced commercial tokamak studies were performed by the Fusion Engineering Design Center (FEDC) as a participant in the Tokamak Power Systems Studies (TPSS) project coordinated by the Office of Fusion Energy. The FEDC studies addressed the issues of tokamak reactor cost, size, and complexity. A scoping study model was developed to determine the effect of beta on tokamak economics, and it was found that a competitive cost of electricity could be achieved at a beta of 10 to 15%. The implications of operating at a beta of up to 25% were also addressed. It was found that the economics of fusion, like those of fission, improve as unit size increases. However, small units were found to be competitive as elements of a multiplex plant, provided that unit cost and maintenance time reductions are realized for the small units. The modular tokamak configuration combined several new approaches to develop a less complex and lower cost reactor. The modular design combines the toroidal field coil with the reactor structure, locates the primary vacuum boundary at the reactor cell wall, and uses a vertical assembly and maintenance approach. 12 refs., 19 figs.

This progress report covers the period from November 1, 1990 to April 30, 1993. During that period, TEXT was operated as a circular tokamak with a material limiter. It was devoted to the study of basic plasma physics, in particular to study of fluctuations, turbulence, and transport. The purpose is to operate and maintain TEXT Upgrade as a complete facility for applied tokamak physics, specifically to conduct a research program under the following main headings: (1) to elucidate the mechanisms of working gas, impurity, and thermal transport in tokamaks, in particular to understand the role of turbulence; (2) to study physics of the edge plasma, in particular the turbulence; (3) to study the physics or resonant magnetic fields (ergodic magnetic divertors, intra island pumping); and (4) to study the physics of electron cyclotron heating (ECRH). Results of studies in each of these areas are reported.

Numerical simulations of the evolution of large-scale magnetic fields have been developed using a mean-field Ohm's law. The Ohm's law is coupled to a {Delta}{prime} stabilty analysis and a magnetic island growth equation in order to simulate the behavior of tokamak plasmas that are subject to tearing modes. In one set of calculations, the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-stable regime of the tokamak is examined via the construction of an {ital l}{sub {ital i}} -{ital q}{sub {ital a}} diagram. The results confirm previous calculations that show that tearing modes introduce a stability boundary into the {ital l}{sub {ital i}} -{ital q}{sub {ital a}} space. In another series of simulations, the interaction between tearing modes and the bootstrap current is investigated. The results indicate that a completely bootstrapped tokamak may be possible, even in the absence of any externally applied loop voltage or current drive.

A straightforward generalization is made of the ohmic heating energy confinement scalings of Pfeiffer and Waltz and Blackwell et. al. The resulting model is systematically calibrated to published data from limiter tokamaks with ohmic, electron cyclotron, and neutral beam heating. With considerably fewer explicitly adjustable free parameters, this model appears to give a better fit to the available data for limiter discharges than the combined ohmic/auxiliary heating model of Goldston.

This report reviews presentations made at the 15th IAEA Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion on experimental tokamak physics, particularly on advances in core plasma physics, divertor and edge physics, heating and current drive, and tokamak concept optimization.

Edge turbulence is of decisive importance for the distribution of particle and energy fluxes to the walls of tokamaks. Despite the availability of extensive experimental data on the turbulence properties, its nature still remains a subject for discussion. This paper contains a review of the most recent theoretical and experimental studies in the field, including mainly the studies to which Wootton (A.J. Wooton, J. Nucl. Mater. 176 & 177 (1990) 77) referred to most in his review at PSI-9 and those published later. The available theoretical models of edge turbulence with volume dissipation due to collisions fail to fully interpret the entire combination of experimental facts. In the scrape-off layer of a tokamak the dissipation prevails due to the flow of current through potential shifts near the surface of limiters of divertor plates. The different origins of turbulence at the edge and in the core plasma due to such dissipation are discussed in this paper. Recent data on the electron temperature fluctuations enabled one to evaluate the electric probe measurements of turbulent flows of particles and heat critically. The latest data on the suppression of turbulence in the case of L-H transitions are given. In doing so, the possibility of exciting current instabilities in biasing experiments (rather than only to the suppression of existing turbulence) is given some attention. Possible objectives of further studies are also discussed.

Dust production and accumulation impose safety and operational concerns for ITER. Diagnostics to monitor dust levels in the plasma as well as in-vessel dust inventory are currently being tested in a few tokamaks. Dust accumulation in ITER is likely to occur in hidden areas, e.g. between tiles and under divertor baffles. A novel electrostatic dust detector for monitoring dust in these regions has been developed and tested at PPPL. In DIII-D tokamak dust diagnostics include Mie scattering from Nd:YAG lasers, visible imaging, and spectroscopy. Laser scattering resolves size of particles between 0.16-1.6 {micro}m in diameter; the total dust content in the edge plasmas and trends in the dust production rates within this size range have been established. Individual dust particles are observed by visible imaging using fast-framing cameras, detecting dust particles of a few microns in diameter and larger. Dust velocities and trajectories can be determined in 2D with a single camera or 3D using multiple cameras, but determination of particle size is problematic. In order to calibrate diagnostics and benchmark dust dynamics modeling, pre-characterized carbon dust has been injected into the lower divertor of DIII-D. Injected dust is seen by cameras, and spectroscopic diagnostics observe an increase of carbon atomic, C2 dimer, and thermal continuum emissions from the injected dust. The latter observation can be used in the design of novel dust survey diagnostics.

Design and construction of a satisfactory tokamak building to support FED appears feasible. Further, a pressure vessel building does not appear necessary to meet the plant safety requirements. Some of the building functions will require safety class systems to assure reliable and safe operation. A rectangular tokamak building has been selected for FED preconceptual design which will be part of the confinement system relying on ventilation and other design features to reduce the consequences and probability of radioactivity release.

The bootstrap current in a tokamak is examined by implementing the Hirshman-Sigmar model and comparing the predicted current profiles with those from two popular approximations. The dependences of the bootstrap current profile on the plasma properties are illustrated. The implications for steady state tokamaks are presented through two constraints; the pressure profile must be peaked and {beta}{sub p} must be kept below a critical value.

The relevance of a nest of toroidal flux surfaces as a paradigm of the magnetic topology of a tokamak plasma is challenged. High resolution Thomson scattering measurements of electron temperature and density in RTP show several hot filaments in the plasma center and sharp gradients near the sawtooth inversion radius and structures outside the sawtooth region under central ECH. In ohmic plasmas, too, the pressure and temperature profiles show significant bumps. These measurements give evidence of a complex magnetic topology. Transport in a medium with spatially strongly varying diffusivity is considered. It is shown that macroscopic transport is determined by the microscopic structure: a transport theory must predict this structure and the diffusivity in the insulating regions, while the {open_quote}turbulent{close_quote} diffusivity is irrelevant. A numerical approach to equilibria with broken surfaces is presented. {copyright} {ital 1995 American Institute of Physics.}

The principle characteristics of plasma discharges produced in Thor tokamak experiments are discussed. The equilibrium and stability characteristics of the plasma produced are considered, with attention given to the density limits and critical streaming parameter for stable operation. The temporal evolution of the main plasma parameters, including electron density, electron temperature distribution, hard X-ray emission from suprathermal electrons, neutral gas influx, plasma density and Ohmic heating efficiency, is then examined, with particular emphasis on means used to control the electron runaway. The results achieved are noted to have demonstrated the possibility of controlling both plasma equilibrium and discharge regime, and further improvements expected by the use of more efficient preionization, gas puffing and feedback poloidal control of column position are indicated.

The ARIES study is a community effort to develop several visions of tokamaks as fusion power reactors. The aims are to determine the potential economics, safety, and environmental features of a range of possible tokamak reactors, and to identify physics and technology areas with the highest leverage for achieving the best tokamak reactor. Three ARIES visions are planned, each having a different degree of extrapolation from the present data base in physics and technology. The ARIES-I design assumes a minimum extrapolation from current tokamak physics (e.g., 1st stability) and incorporates technological advances that can be available in the next 20 to 30 years. ARIES-II is a DT-burning tokamak which would operate at a higher beta in the 2nd MHD stability regime. It employs both potential advances in the physics and expected advances in technology and engineering. ARIES-II will examine the potential of the tokamak and the D{sup 3}He fuel cycle. This report is a collection of 14 papers on the results of the ARIES study which were presented at the IEEE 13th Symposium on Fusion Engineering (October 2-6, 1989, Knoxville, TN). This collection describes the ARIES research effort, with emphasis on the ARIES-I design, summarizing the major results, the key technical issues, and the central conclusions.

Almost 700 citations have been compiled as the first step in reviewing the recent research on tokamak fusion product effects in tokamaks. The publications are listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author and by subject category.

Moving divertor plates could help solve some of the problems of the tokamak divertor through mechanical ingenuity rather than plasma physics. These plates would be passively heated on each pass through the tokamak and cooled and reprocessed outside the tokamak. There are many design options using varying plate shapes, orientations, motions, coatings, and compositions.

Low-m tearing modes constitute the dominant instability problem in present-day tokamaks. In this lecture, the stability criteria for representative current profiles with q(0)-values slightly less than unit are reviewed; ''sawtooth'' reconnection to q(0)-values just at, or slightly exceeding, unity is generally destabilizing to the m = 2, n = 1 and m = 3, n = 2 modes, and severely limits the range of stable profile shapes. Feedback stabilization of m greater than or equal to 2 modes by rf heating or current drive, applied locally at the magnetic islands, appears feasible; feedback by island current drive is much more efficient, in terms of the radio-frequency power required, then feedback by island heating. Feedback stabilization of the m = 1 mode - although yielding particularly beneficial effects for resistive-tearing and high-beta stability by allowing q(0)-values substantially below unity - is more problematical, unless the m = 1 ideal-MHD mode can be made positively stable by strong triangular shaping of the central flux surfaces. Feedback techniques require a detectable, rotating MHD-like signal; the slowing of mode rotation - or the excitation of non-rotating modes - by an imperfectly conducting wall is also discussed.

Plasma-wall interaction, heat removal and ash exhaust have emerged as the dominant problems still to be solved in order to achieve ignition and - even more difficult - to maintain a state of self-sustained thermo-nuclear burn. This is of particular delicacy, since those operational regimes which yield the best energy confinement correspond to an even better particle confinement and confinement of impurities, which then tend to accumulate in the plasma core and to result in disruption or degradation of the tokamak discharge. Therefore, plasma-wall interaction, heat removal and particle exhaust will determine not only the structure and configuration of the plasma edge region, of the wall system and of the materials facing the plasma, but also the final choice of useful confinement regimes. Moreover, the potential effect of powerful {alpha}-particle heating on plasma stability and confinement has to be kept below critical values. For the latter requirement, a final answer can only be obtained in an ITER-type device where ignition and burn will become accessible. 72 refs., 12 figs.

The tokamak concept improvement workshop addressed a wide range of issues involved in the development of a more attractive tokamak. The agenda for the workshop progressed from a general discussion of the long-range energy context (with the objective being the identification of a set of criteria and ``figures of merit`` for measuring the attractiveness of a tokamak concept) to particular opportunities for the improvement of the tokamak concept. The discussions concluded with a compilation of research program elements leading to an improved tokamak concept.

Disruptions in tokamaks are known since 1963 but even now some aspects of them remain a mystery. This talk describes progress made recently in understanding disruptions. A major step forward occurred in 2007 when the importance of galvanic contact of the plasma with the wall in plasma dynamics was pointed out. The toroidal asymmetry of plasma current, observed in JET vertical disruptions, was explained by the theory of the wall touching kink mode. The currents shared by the plasma with the wall and responsible for the asymmetry were identified as generated by the kink mode. Such currents are referred to as Hiro currents. They have shown exceptional consistency with the entire JET disruption data base (more than 5500 cases) and ruled out the long lasting interpretation based on ``halo currents,'' which contradict experiments even in the sign of the measured asymmetry. Accordingly, the sideways forces are understood and their scaling from JET to ITER was justified. Hiro currents provide also a plausible explanation of the current spike at the beginning of the disruptions. The important role of the plasma edge and its interaction with the wall was revealed. Based on this new understanding of disruptions, dedicated experiments on the current spike (J-TEXT, Wuhan, China) and runaway prevention by the repetitive triggering of kink modes (T-10, AUG, Tore Supra) were motivated and are in progress. Accordingly, the need for new, adaptive grid approaches to numerical simulations of disruptions became evident. In addition to the core MHD, simulations of realistic wall geometry, disruption specific plasma edge physics, plasma-wall interaction, and energetic particles need be developed. The first results of simulations of the fast MHD regime, Hiro current generation, and slower plasma decay due to a wall touching kink mode made with the new DSC code are presented. This work is supported by US DoE contract No. DE-AC02-09-CH11466.

This paper first reviews briefly the status and plans for research in magnetic fusion energy and discusses the prospects for the tokamak magnetic configuration to be the basis for a fusion power plant. Good progress has been made in achieving fusion reactor-level, deuterium-tritium (D-T) plasmas with the production of significant fusion power in the Joint European Torus (up to 2 MW) and the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (up to 10 MW) tokamaks. Advances on the technologies of heating, fueling, diagnostics, and materials supported these achievements. The successes have led to the initiation of the design phases of two tokamaks, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the US Toroidal Physics Experiment (TPX). ITER will demonstrate the controlled ignition and extended bum of D-T plasmas with steady state as an ultimate goal. ITER will further demonstrate technologies essential to a power plant in an integrated system and perform integrated testing of the high heat flux and nuclear components required to use fusion energy for practical purposes. TPX will complement ITER by testing advanced modes of steady-state plasma operation that, coupled with the developments in ITER, will lead to an optimized demonstration power plant.

The startup of tokamaks has been examined in the past in varying degree of detail. This phase typically involves the burnthrough of impurities and the subsequent rampup of plasma current. A zero-dimensional (0D) model is most widely used where the time evolution of volume averaged quantities determines the detailed balance between the input and loss of particle and power. But, being a 0D setup, these studies do not take into consideration the co-evolution of plasma size and shape, and instead assume an unchanging minor and major radius. However, it is known that the plasma position and its minor radius can change appreciably as the plasma evolves in time to fill in the entire available volume. In this paper, an enhanced model for the tokamak startup is introduced, which for the first time takes into account the evolution of plasma geometry during this brief but highly dynamic period by including realistic one-dimensional (1D) effects within the broad 0D framework. In addition the effect of runaway electrons (REs) has also been incorporated. The paper demonstrates that the inclusion of plasma cross section evolution in conjunction with REs plays an important role in the formation and development of tokamak startup. The model is benchmarked against experimental results from ADITYA tokamak.

This lecture covers the derivation of guiding center equations in a tokamak, orbit classification, the effect of magnetic perturbations and ripple, the interaction of particles with magnetohydrodynamic modes, including passing particle resonance, toroidal Alfven mode drive and saturation, the fishbone mode, and sawtooth stabilization.

A magnetic helicity conserving mean-field Ohm's law is used to study bootstrapped tokamaks with oscillating field current drive. The Ohm's law leads to the conclusion that the tokamak bootstrap effect can convert the largely alternating current of oscillating field current drive into a direct toroidal plasma current. This plasma current rectification is due to the intrinsically nonlinear nature of the tokamak bootstrap effect, and suggests that it may be possible to maintain the toroidal current of a tokamak reactor by supplementing the bootstrap current with oscillating field current drive. Steady-state tokamak fusion reactors operating with oscillating field current drive could provide an alternative to tokamak reactors operating with external current drive.

It is expected that the next phase of the fusion program will involve a tokamak with the goals of providing an ignited plasma for pulses of hundreds of seconds. A simple model is described in this memorandum which establishes the physics conditions for such a self-sustaining plasma, for given ion and electron thermal diffusivities, in terms of R/a, b/a, I, B/q, epsilon ..beta../sub p/, anti T/sub i/, and anti T/sub e//anti T/sub i/. The model is used to produce plots showing the wide range of tokamaks that may ignite or have a given ignition margin. The constraints that limit this range are discussed.

The ITER tokamak is a machine using superconducting magnets. The windings of these magnets will be subjected to high heat loads resulting from a combination of nuclear energy absorption and AC-losses. It is estimated that about 100 kW at 4.5 K are needed. The total cooling mass flow rate will be around 10 - 15 kg/s. In addition to the large cryogenic power required for the superconducting magnets cryogenic power is also needed for refrigerated radiation shield, various cryopumps, fuel processing and test beds. A general description of the overall layout and the envisaged refrigerator cycle, necessary cold pumps and ancillary equipment is given. The basic cryogenic layout for the ITER tokakmak design, as developed during the conceptual design phase and a short overview about existing tokamak designs using superconducting magnets is given.

The size of a magnetic island created by a perturbing helical field in a tokamak is estimated. A helical equilibrium of a current- carrying plasma is found in a helical coordinate and the helically flowing current in the cylinder that borders the plasma is calculated. From that solution, it is concluded that the helical perturbation of /approximately/10/sup /minus/4/ of the total plasma current is sufficient to cause an island width of approximately 5% of the plasma radius. 6 refs.

Reconstruction of experimental axisymmetric equilibria is an important part of tokamak data analysis. Fourier expansion is applied to reconstruct the vessel current distribution in EFIT code. Benchmarking and testing calculations are performed to evaluate and validate this algorithm. Two cases for circular and non-circular plasma discharges are presented. Fourier expansion used to fit the eddy current is a robust method and the real time EFIT can be introduced to the plasma control system in the coming campaign.

Reports were presented at this conference of important advances in all the key areas of experimental tokamak physics: Core Plasma Physics, Divertor and Edge Physics, Heating and Current Drive, and Tokamak Concept Optimization. In the area of Core Plasma Physics, the biggest news was certainly the production of 9.2 MW of fusion power in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, and the observation of unexpectedly favorable performance in DT plasmas. There were also very important advances in the performance of ELM-free H- (and VH-) mode plasmas and in quasi-steady-state ELM`y operation in JT-60U, JET, and DIII-D. In all three devices ELM-free H-modes achieved nT{tau}`s {approximately} 2.5x greater than ELM`ing H-modes, but had not been sustained in quasi-steady-state. Important progress has been made on the understanding of the physical mechanism of the H-mode in DIII-D, and on the operating range in density for the H-mode in Compass and other devices.

Runaway electron orbits are calculated in a tokamak magnetic field. It is shown that these electrons tend to drift towards a larger major radius with a velocity v Vector/sub R/ = qcE/B/sub 0/ R. This effect may be relevant to some recent experimental observations in tokamaks.

The primary research objective of the Numerical Tokamak Turbulence Project (NTTP) is to develop a predictive ability in modeling turbulent transport due to drift-type instabilities in the core of tokamak fusion experiments, through the use of three-dimensional kinetic and fluid simulations and the derivation of reduced models.

The control of plasma position, shape and current in a tokamak fusion reactor is examined using linear optimal control. These advanced tokamaks are characterized by non up-down symmetric coils and structure, thick structure surrounding the plasma, eddy currents, shaped plasmas, superconducting coils, vertically unstable plasmas, and hybrid function coils providing ohmic heating, vertical field, radial field, and shaping field. Models of the electromagnetic environment in a tokamak are derived and used to construct control gains that are tested in nonlinear simulations with initial perturbations. The issues of applying linear optimal control to advanced tokamaks are addressed, including complex equilibrium control, choice of cost functional weights, the coil voltage limit, discrete control, and order reduction. Results indicate that the linear optimal control is a feasible technique for controlling advanced tokamaks where the more common classical control will be severely strained or will not work. 28 refs., 13 figs.

In this paper I show how one may arrive at a universal, or natural, family of Tokamak profiles using only accepted physical principles. These particular profiles are similar to ones proposed previously on the basis of ad hoc variational principles and the point of the present paper is to provide a justification for them. However in addition, the present work provides an interesting view of Tokamak fluctuations and leads to a new result -- a relationship between the inward particle pinch velocity, the diffusion coefficient and the current profile. The basic Tokamak model is described in this paper. Then an analogy is developed between Tokamak profiles and the equilibrium of a realisable dynamical system. Then the equations governing the natural Tokamak profiles are derived by applying standard statistical mechanics to this analog. The profiles themselves are calculated and some other results of the theory are described.

Tokamak plasma transport equations are usually obtained by flux surface averaging the collisional Braginskii equations. However, tokamak plasmas are not in collisional regimes. Also, ad hoc terms are added for neoclassical effects on the parallel Ohm's law, fluctuation-induced transport, heating, current-drive and flow sources and sinks, small magnetic field nonaxisymmetries, magnetic field transients, etc. A set of self-consistent second order in gyroradius fluid-moment-based transport equations for nearly axisymmetric tokamak plasmas has been developed using a kinetic-based approach. The derivation uses neoclassical-based parallel viscous force closures, and includes all the effects noted above. Plasma processes on successive time scales and constraints they impose are considered sequentially: compressional Alfven waves (Grad-Shafranov equilibrium, ion radial force balance), sound waves (pressure constant along field lines, incompressible flows within a flux surface), and collisions (electrons, parallel Ohm's law; ions, damping of poloidal flow). Radial particle fluxes are driven by the many second order in gyroradius toroidal angular torques on a plasma species: seven ambipolar collision-based ones (classical, neoclassical, etc.) and eight nonambipolar ones (fluctuation-induced, polarization flows from toroidal rotation transients, etc.). The plasma toroidal rotation equation results from setting to zero the net radial current induced by the nonambipolar fluxes. The radial particle flux consists of the collision-based intrinsically ambipolar fluxes plus the nonambipolar fluxes evaluated at the ambipolarity-enforcing toroidal plasma rotation (radial electric field). The energy transport equations do not involve an ambipolar constraint and hence are more directly obtained. The 'mean field' effects of microturbulence on the parallel Ohm's law, poloidal ion flow, particle fluxes, and toroidal momentum and energy transport are all included self-consistently. The

Data are presented on the application of ion cyclotron resonance RF power to preionization in tokamaks. We applied 0.3-3 kW at 12 MHz to hydrogen and obtained a visible discharge, but found no scaling of breakdown voltage with any parameter we were able to vary. A possible explanation for this, which implies that higher RF power would have been much more effective, is discussed. Finally, we present our investigation of the dV/dt dependence of breakdown voltage in PRETEXT, a phenomenon also seen in JFT-2. The breakdown is discussed in terms of the physics of Townsend discharges.

The Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) tokamak requires a symmetric up/down double-null divertor capable of operation with steady-state heat flux as high as 7.5 MW/m{sup 2}. The divertor is designed to operate in the radiative mode and employs a deep slot configuration with gas puffing lines to enhance radiative divertor operation. Pumping is provided by cryopumps that pump through eight vertical ports in the floor and ceiling of the vessel. The plasma facing surface is made of carbon-carbon composite blocks (macroblocks) bonded to multiple parallel copper tubes oriented vertically. Water flowing at 6 m/s is used, with the critical heat flux (CHF) margin improved by the use of enhanced heat transfer surfaces. In order to extend the operating period where hands on maintenance is allowed and to also reduce dismantling and disposal costs, the TPX design emphasizes the use of low activation materials. The primary materials used in the divertor are titanium, copper, and carbon-carbon composite. The low activation material selection and the planned physics operation will allow personnel access into the vacuum vessel for the first 2 years of operation. The remote handling system requires that all plasma facing components (PFCs) are configured as modular components of restricted dimensions with special provisions for lifting, alignment, mounting, attachment, and connection of cooling lines, and instrumentation and diagnostics services.

The Corsica code provides comprehensive toroidal plasma simulation and design capabilities with current applications [1] to tokamak, reversed field pinch (RFP) and spheromak configurations. It calculates fixed and free boundary equilibria coupled to Ohm's law, sources, transport models and MHD stability modules. We are exploring operations scenarios for both the DIII-D and KSTAR tokamaks. We will present simulations of the effects of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (ECCD) relevant to the Quiescent Double Barrier (QDB) regime on DIII-D exploring long pulse operation issues. KSTAR simulations using ECH/ECCD in negative central shear configurations explore evolution to steady state while shape evolution studies during current ramp up using a hyper-resistivity model investigate startup scenarios and limitations. Studies of high bootstrap fraction operation stimulated by recent ECH/ECCD experiments on DIIID will also be presented. [1] Pearlstein, L.D., et al, Predictive Modeling of Axisymmetric Toroidal Configurations, 28th EPS Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Madeira, Portugal, June 18-22, 2001. * Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

In the present thesis work a theoretical transport model is suggested to study the anomalous transport of plasma particles and energy across the axisymmetric equilibrium toroidal magnetic flux surfaces in tokamaks. The model suggests a linear combination of two transport mechanisms; drift waves, which dominate the transport in the core region, and resistive ballooning modes, which dominate the transport in the edge region. The resulting unified model has been used in a predictive transport code to simulate the plasma transport in different tokamak experiments operating in both the ohmic heating phase and the low confinement mode (L-mode). For ohmic plasma, the model was used to study the saturation of energy confinement time at high plasma density. The effect of the resistive ballooning mode as a possible cause of the saturation phenomena has been investigated together with the effect of the ion temperature gradient mode. For the low confinement mode plasmas, the study has emphasized on using the model to obtain a scaling law for the energy confinement time with the various plasma parameters compared to the scaling laws that are derived based on fitting the experimental data.

Particles with sizes ranging from 100 nm to 100 {mu}m are produced in tokamaks by the interaction of the plasma with the first wall materials and divertor. Dust has not yet been of a major concern in existing tokamaks mainly because their quantities are small and these devices are not nuclear facilities. However, in ITER and in future reactors, they could represent operational and potential safety issues. The aim of this paper is thus to describe the dust creation processes in the tokamak environment. The diagnostics and removal techniques that are needed to be implemented to measure and minimise the dust inventory are also presented. The integration of these techniques into a tokamak environment is also discussed.

OAK A271 OPTIMUM PLASMA STATES FOR NEXT STEP TOKAMAKS. The dependence of the ideal ballooning {beta} limit on aspect ratio, A, and elongation {kappa} is systematically explored for nearly 100% bootstrap current driven tokamak equilibria in a wide range of the shape parameters (A = 1.2-7.0, {kappa} = 1.5-6.0 with triangularity {delta} = 0.5). The critical {beta}{sub N} is shown to be optimal at {kappa} = 3.0-4.0 for all A studied and increases as A decreases with a dependence close to A{sup -0.5}. The results obtained can be used as a theoretical basis for the choice of optimum aspect ratio and elongation of next step burning plasma tokamaks or tokamak reactors.

A tokamak D-D reactor design, utilizing the advantages of a deuterium-fueled reactor but with parameters not unnecessarily extended from existing D-T designs, is presented. Studies leading to the choice of a design and initial studies of the design are described. The studies are in the areas of plasma engineering, first-wall/blanket/shield design, magnet design, and tritium/fuel/vacuum requirements. Conclusions concerning D-D tokamak reactors are stated.

This work has been initiated by the publication of a review by B.V.Kuteev et al., "Intense Fusion Neutron Sources" [Plasma Physics Reports 36, 281 (2010)]. It is stated that the key thesis of the above review that a spherical tokamak can be recommended for research neutron sources and for demonstration hybrid systems as an alternative to expensive "classical" tokamaks of the JET and ITER type is inconsistent. The analysis of the experimental material obtained during the last 10 years in the course of studies on the existing spherical tokamaks shows that the TIN-ST fusion neutron source spherical tokamak proposed by the authors of the review and intended, according to the authors' opinion, to replace "monsters" in view of its table-top dimensions (2 m3) and laboratory-level energetics cannot be transformed into any noticeable stationary megawatt-power neutron source competing with the existing classical tokamaks (in particular, with JET with its quasi-steady DT fusion power at a level of 5 MW). Namely, the maximum plasma current in the proposed tokamak will be not 3 MA, as the authors suppose erroneously, but, according to the present-day practice of spherical tokamaks, within 0.6-0.7 MA, which will lead to a reduction on the neutron flux by two to three orders of magnitude from the expected 5 MW. The possibility of the maintenance of the stationary process itself even in such a "weakened" spherical tokamak is very doubtful. The experience of the largest existing devices of this type (such as NSTX and MAST) has shown that they are incapable of operating even in a quasi-steady operating mode, because the discharge in them is spontaneously interrupted about 1 s after the beginning of the current pulse, although its expected duration is of up to 5 s. The nature of this phenomenon is the subject of further study of the physics of spherical tokamaks. This work deals with a critical analysis of the available experimental data concerning such tokamaks and a discussion of

The problem of edge plasma transport provides substantial challenges for analytical or numerical analysis due to (a) complex magnetic geometry including both open and closed magnetic field lines B, (b) steep radial gradients comparable to ion drift-orbit excursions, and (c) a variation in the collision mean-free path along B from long to short compared to the magnetic connection length. Here, the first 4D continuum drift-kinetic transport simulations that span the magnetic separatrix of a tokamak are presented, motivated in part by the success of continuum kinetic codes for core physics and in part by the potential for high accuracy. The calculations include fully-nonlinear Fokker-Plank collisions and electrostatic potential variations. The problem of intrinsic toroidal rotation driven by ion orbit loss is addressed in detail. The code, COGENT, developed by the Edge Simulation Laboratory collaboration, is distinguished by a fourth-order finite-volume discretization combined with mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the strong anisotropy of plasma transport and the complex magnetic X-point divertor geometry with high accuracy. Previously, successful performance of high-order algorithms has been demonstrated in a simpler closed magnetic-flux-surface geometry for the problems of neoclassical transport and collisionless relaxation of geodesic acoustic modes in a tokamak pedestal, including the effects of a strong radial electric field under H-mode conditions. Work performed for USDOE, at LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Low recycling regimes with a plasma limited by a lithium wall surface suggest enhanced stability and energy confinement, both necessary for tokamak reactors. These regimes could make ignition feasible in compact tokamaks. Ignited Spherical Tokamaks (IST), self-sufficient in the bootstrap current, are introduced as a necessary step for development of the physics and technology of power reactors.

Tokamaks with weak to moderate reversed central shear in which the minimum inverse rotational transform (safety factor) qmin is in the neighbourhood of unity can trigger bifurcated magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium states, one of which is similar to a saturated ideal internal kink mode. Peaked prescribed pressure profiles reproduce the ‘snake’ structures observed in many tokamaks which has led to a novel explanation of the snake as a bifurcated equilibrium state. Snake equilibrium structures are computed in simulations of the tokamak à configuration variable (TCV), DIII-D and mega amp spherical torus (MAST) tokamaks. The internal helical deformations only weakly modulate the plasma-vacuum interface which is more sensitive to ripple and resonant magnetic perturbations. On the other hand, the external perturbations do not alter the helical core deformation in a significant manner. The confinement of fast particles in MAST simulations deteriorate with the amplitude of the helical core distortion. These three-dimensional bifurcated solutions constitute a paradigm shift that motivates the applications of tools developed for stellarator research in tokamak physics investigations.

Many effects influence toroidal flow evolution in tokamak plasmas. Momentum sources and radial diffusion due to axisymmetric neoclassical, paleoclassical and anomalous transport are usually considered. In addition, the toroidal flow can be affected by field errors. Small, non-axisymmetric field errors arise from coil irregularities, active control coils and collective plasma magnetic distortions (e.g., NTMs, RWMs). Resonant field errors cause localized electromagnetic torques near rational surfaces in the plasma, which can lock the plasma to the wall leading to magnetic islands and reduced confinement or disruptions. Their penetration into the plasma is limited by flow-shielding effects; but they can be amplified by the plasma response at high beta. Non-resonant field errors cause magnetic pumping and radial banana drifts, and lead to toroidal flow damping over the entire plasma. Many of these processes can also produce momentum pinch and intrinsic flow effects. This poster will seek to present a coherent picture of all these effects and suggest ways they could be tested and distinguished experimentally.

The dynamical behavior of dust produced in tokamaks is an important issue for fusion. In this work, the current status of the dust in tokamaks (DTOKS) [J. D. Martin et al., Europhys Lett. 83, 65001 (2008)] dust transport code will be presented. A detailed description of the various elements of its underlying physical model will be given together with representative simulation results for the mega amp spherical tokamak (MAST) [A. Sykes et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, 1423 (2001)]. Furthermore, a brief description of the various components of the dust transport (DUSTT) [R. D. Smirnov et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 49, 347 (2007)] code will also be presented in comparison with DTOKS.

The US fusion program has completed the conceptual design of a compact tokamak device that achieves ignition. The high neutron wall loadings associated with this compact deuterium-tritium-burning device indicate that radiation-related issues may be significant considerations in the overall system design. Sufficient shielding will be requied for the radiation protection of both reactor components and occupational personnel. A close-in igloo shield has been designed around the periphery of the tokamak structure to permit personnel access into the test cell after shutdown and limit the total activation of the test cell components. This paper describes the conceptual design of the igloo shield system and discusses the major neutronic concerns related to the design of the Compact Ignition Tokamak.

Magnetic helicity is approximately conserved by the turbulence associated with resistive instabilities of plasmas. To generalize the application of the concept of helicity, the helicity content of an arbitrary bounded region of space will be defined. The definition has the virtues that both the helicity content and its time derivative have simple expressions in terms of the poloidal and toroidal magnetic fluxes, the average toroidal loop voltage and the electric potential on the bounding surface, and the volume integral of E-B. The application of the helicity concept to tokamak plasmas is illustrated by a discussion of so-called MHD current drive, an example of a stable tokamak q profile with q less than one in the center, and a discussion of the possibility of a natural steady-state tokamak due to the bootstrap current coupling to tearing instabilities.

A new electron cyclotron emission (ECE) diagnostics system was installed for the Second Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) campaign. The new ECE system consists of an ECE collecting optics system, an overmode circular corrugated waveguide system, and 48 channel heterodyne radiometer with the frequency range of 110-162 GHz. During the 2 T operation of the KSTAR tokamak, the electron temperatures as well as its radial profiles at the high field side were measured and sawtooth phenomena were also observed. We also discuss the effect of a window on in situ calibration.

The Tokamak Power System Studies (TPSS) at ANL in FY-1985 were devoted to exploring innovative design concepts which have the potential for making substantial improvements in the tokamak as a commercial power reactor. Major objectives of this work included improved reactor economics, improved environmental and safety features, and the exploration of a wide range of reactor plant outputs with emphasis on reduced plant sizes compared to STARFIRE. The activities concentrated on three areas: plasma engineering, impurity control, and blanket/first wall/shield technology. 205 refs., 125 figs., 107 tabs.

An overview is given of the National Centralized Tokamak (NCT) programme as a research programme for advanced tokamak research to succeed JT-60U. The mission of NCT is to establish high beta steady-state operation for DEMO and to contribute to ITER. The machine flexibility is pursued in aspect ratio and shape controllability for the demonstration of the high-β steady-state, feedback control of resistive wall modes, wide current and pressure profile control capability and also very long pulse steady-state operation. Existing JT-60 infrastructure such as the heating and current drive system, power supplies and cooling systems will be best utilized for this modification.

This paper presents the measured x-ray and Extreme Ultraviolet (XUV) spectra of three astrophysically abundant elements (Fe, Ca and Ne) from three different tokamak plasmas. In every case, each spectrum touches on an issue of atomic physics that is important for simulation codes to be used in the analysis of high spectral resolution data from current and future x-ray telescopes. The utility of the tokamak as a laboratory test bed for astrophysical data is demonstrated. Simple models generated with the HULLAC suite of codes demonstrate how the atomic physics issues studied can affect the interpretation of astrophysical data.

Transformer recharging with lower hybrid waves in tokamaks can give low average auxiliary power if the resistivity is kept high enough during the radio frequency (rf) recharging stage. At the same time, operation in the hot ion mode via alpha channeling increases the effective fusion reactivity. This paper will address the extent to which these two large cost saving steps are compatible. __________________________________________________

The results of UCLA experimental fusion program are summarized. Starting with smaller devices like Microtor, Macrotor, CCT and ending the research on the large (5 m) Electric Tokamak. CCT was the most diagnosed device for H-mode like physics and the effects of rotation induced radial fields. ICRF heating was also studied but plasma heating of University Type Tokamaks did not produce useful results due to plasma edge disturbances of the antennae. The Electric Tokamak produced better confinement in the seconds range. However, it presented very good particle confinement due to an "electric particle pinch". This effect prevented us from reaching a quasi steady state. This particle accumulation effect was numerically explained by Shaing's enhanced neoclassical theory. The PI believes that ITER will have a good energy confinement time but deleteriously large particle confinement time and it will disrupt on particle pinching at nominal average densities. The US fusion research program did not study particle transport effects due to its undue focus on the physics of energy confinement time. Energy confinement time is not an issue for energy producing tokamaks. Controlling the ash flow will be very expensive.

Three different aspects of intrinsic rotation have been treated. i) A new, first principles model for intrinsic rotation [F.I. Parra, M. Barnes and P.J. Catto, Nucl. Fusion 51, 113001 (2011)] has been implemented in the gyrokinetic code GS2. The results obtained with the code are consistent with several experimental observations, namely the rotation peaking observed after an L-H transition, the rotation reversal observed in Ohmic plasmas, and the change in rotation that follows Lower Hybrid wave injection. ii) The model in [F.I. Parra, M. Barnes and P.J. Catto, Nucl. Fusion 51, 113001 (2011)] has several simplifying assumptions that seem to be satisfied in most tokamaks. To check the importance of these hypotheses, first principles equations that do not rely on these simplifying assumptions have been derived, and a version of these new equations has been implemented in GS2 as well. iii) A tokamak cross-section that drives large intrinsic rotation has been proposed for future large tokamaks. In large tokamaks, intrinsic rotation is expected to be very small unless some up-down asymmetry is introduced. The research conducted under this contract indicates that tilted ellipticity is the most efficient way to drive intrinsic rotation.

Sawtooth relaxation oscillations are analyzed using the Kadomtsev's disruption model and a thermal relaxation model. The sawtooth period is found to be very sensitive to the thermal conduction loss. Qualitative agreement between these calculations and the sawtooth period observed in several tokamaks is demonstrated.

The stabilization theory of free-boundary magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in tokamaks by liquid lithium streams driven by magnetic propulsion is formulated. While the conventional, wall-locked, resistive wall mode can be well suppressed by the flow, a new, stream-locked mode determines the limits of the flow stabilization.

Runaway electrons with relativisitc energy (>Mev) are generated in tokamaks when the acceleration by parallel electric field exceeds the drag due to Coulomb collisions with the bulk plasma. Carrying about 70% of the ITER thermal current (15MA), they can possibly cause severe damage to tokamak facing components. Here we report the development of a solver for computing the evolution of runaway electron distribution in tokamak geometries. Essential effects from Coulomb collisions, radiation losses, toroidal effects and the radial transport are included on the same footings. Numerical techniques (implicit-explicit time-stepping, KT/NT central schemes) to overcome the difficulties arising from the wide spread of time scales in runaway electron dynamics and the hyperbolic nature of the relativistic Fokker-Planck equation will be discussed. We will use the solver to study two important physics: 1) the presence of stable point in the phase space and its relation to the electric field threshold; 2) the radial transport of runaways in tokamak geometry and its effects on the distribution function. Work supported by DOE via LANL-LDRD.

Alpha channeling in tokamaks is speculative, but also extraordinarily attractive. Waves that can accomplish this effect have been identified. Key aspects of the theory now enjoy experimental confirmation. This paper will review the elementary processes of wave-particle interactions in plasma that underlie the alpha channeling effect

Reference 1-GWe DT reactors (tokamak TR-1, spherical tokamak ST-1 and helical HR-1 reactors) are designed using physics, engineering and cost (PEC) code, and their plasma behaviours with internal transport barrier operations are analysed using toroidal transport analysis linkage (TOTAL) code, which clarifies the requirement of deep penetration of pellet fuelling to realize steady-state advanced burning operation. In addition, economical and environmental assessments were performed using extended PEC code, which shows the advantage of high beta tokamak reactors in the cost of electricity (COE) and the advantage of compact spherical tokamak in life-cycle CO2 emission reduction. Comparing with other electric power generation systems, the COE of the fusion reactor is higher than that of the fission reactor, but on the same level as the oil thermal power system. CO2 reduction can be achieved in fusion reactors the same as in the fission reactor. The energy payback ratio of the high-beta tokamak reactor TR-1 could be higher than that of other systems including the fission reactor.

The computation based on neural net algorithms in predicting minor and major disruptions in TEXT tokamak discharges has been performed. Future values of the fluctuating magnetic signal are predicted based on L past values of the magnetic fluctuation signal, measured by a single Mirnov coil. The time step used (= 0.04ms) corresponds to the experimental data sampling rate. Two kinds of approaches are adopted for the task, the contiguous future prediction and the multi-timescale prediction. Results are shown for comparison. Both networks are trained through the back-propagation algorithm with inertial terms. The degree of this success indicates that the magnetic fluctuations associated with tokamak disruptions may be characterized by a relatively low-dimensional dynamical system.

It may be possible to replace conventional actively cooled tokamak divertor plates with a set of rapidly moving, passively cooled divertor plates on rails. These plates would absorb the plasma heat flux with their thermal inertia for ~10-30 sec, and would then be removed from the vessel for processing. When outside the tokamak, these plates could be cooled, cleaned, recoated, inspected, and then returned to the vessel in an automated loop. This scheme could provide nearoptimal divertor surfaces at all times, and avoid the need to stop machine operation for repair of damaged or eroded plates. We describe various possible divertor plate designs and access geometries, and discuss an initial design for a movable and removable divertor module for NSTX-U.

The migration of impurities in tokamaks has been studied with the help of tracer-injection (13C and 15N) experiments in JET and ASDEX Upgrade since 2001. We have identified a common pattern for the migrating particles: scrape-off layer flows drive impurities from the low-field side towards the high-field side of the vessel. Migration is also sensitive to the density and magnetic configuration of the plasma, and strong local variations in the resulting deposition patterns require 3D treatment of the migration process. Moreover, re-erosion of the deposited particles has to be taken into account to properly describe the migration process during steady-state operation of the tokamak.

This paper describes a new filamentary probe recently introduced on the COMPASS tokamak. It allows the measurement of electrostatic and magnetic properties of the filaments and their changes in dependence on distance from the separatrix in the region between a divertor and midplane. The probe head is mounted on a manipulator moving the probe radially on a shot-to-shot basis. This configuration is suitable for the long term statistical measurement of the plasma filaments and the measurement of their evolution during their propagation from the separatrix to the wall. The basics of the filamentary probe construction, the evolution of the plasma parameters, and first conditional averages of the plasma filaments in the scrape-off layer of the COMPASS tokamak during the L-mode regime are presented.

The boundary plasma turbulence code BOUT models tokamak boundary-plasma turbulence in a realistic divertor geometry using modified Braginskii equations for plasma vorticity, density (ni), electron and ion temperature (T{sub e}; T{sub i}) and parallel momenta. The BOUT code solves for the plasma fluid equations in a three dimensional (3D) toroidal segment (or a toroidal wedge), including the region somewhat inside the separatrix and extending into the scrape-off layer; the private flux region is also included. In this paper, a description is given of the sophisticated physical models, innovative numerical algorithms, and modern software design used to simulate edge-plasmas in magnetic fusion energy devices. The BOUT code's unique capabilities and functionality are exemplified via simulations of the impact of plasma density on tokamak edge turbulence and blob dynamics.

Tokamak apparatus includes a pressure vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A toroidal liner disposed within the pressure vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside said liner. Electric current is passed through the liquid metal over a conductive path linking the toroidal space to produce a toroidal magnetic field within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. Toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof.

A drift wave turbulence model is used to compute the scaling and magnitude of central electron temperature and confinement time of tokamak plasmas. The results are in accord with experiment. Application to ignition experiments shows that high density (1 to 2) . 10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/, high field, B/sub T/ > 10 T, but low temperature T approx. 6 keV constitute the optimum path to ignition.

We demonstrate that in a 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulation, for some parameters it is possible to form a stationary state in a tokamak where a saturated interchange mode in the center of the discharge drives a near helical flow pattern that acts to nonlinearly sustain the configuration by adjusting the central loop voltage through a dynamo action. This could explain the physical mechanism for maintaining stationary nonsawtoothing "hybrid" discharges, often referred to as "flux pumping."

Evidence for small scale magnetic structures in the Rijnhuizen tokamak RTP is presented. These are manifest through steps and peaks in the electron temperature and pressure, measured with multiposition Thomson scattering. During central electron cyclotron heating, several filaments of high pressure are found in the power deposition region. They live hundreds of microseconds. Near the sawtooth inversion radius a step'' in the temperature profile occurs. Further out, quasiperiodic structures are observed, in both Ohmic and heated discharges.

We demonstrate that in a 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulation, for some parameters it is possible to form a stationary state in a tokamak where a saturated interchange mode in the center of the discharge drives a near helical flow pattern that acts to nonlinearly sustain the configuration by adjusting the central loop voltage through a dynamo action. This could explain the physical mechanism for maintaining stationary nonsawtoothing "hybrid" discharges, often referred to as "flux pumping."

The theory of neutral-beam current drive in tokamaks is reviewed. Experiments are discussed where neutral beams have been used to drive current directly and also indirectly through neoclassical effects. Application of the theory to an experimental test reactor is described. It is shown that neutral beams formed from negative ions accelerated to 500 to 700 keV are needed for this device.

The paper is prepared on the basis of the report presented at the session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) at the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS on 25 May 2011, devoted to the 90-year jubilee of Academician Andrei D Sakharov - the initiator of controlled nuclear fusion research in the USSR. The 60-year history of plasma research work in toroidal devices with a longitudinal magnetic field suggested by Andrei D Sakharov and Igor E Tamm in 1950 for the confinement of fusion plasma and known at present as tokamaks is described in brief. The recent (2006) agreement among Russia, the EU, the USA, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, and India on the joint construction of the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) in France based on the tokamak concept is discussed. Prospects for using the tokamak as a thermonuclear (14 MeV) neutron source are examined.

A free-boundary Tokamak equilibrium solver (TES), developed for advanced study of tokamak equilibra, is described with two distinctive features. One is a generalized method to resolve the intrinsic axisymmetric instability, which is encountered in all equilibrium calculations with a freeboundary condition. The other is an extension to deal with a new divertor geometry such as snowflake or X divertors. For validations, the uniqueness of a solution is confirmed by the independence of variations in the computational domain, the mathematical correctness and accuracy of equilibrium profiles are checked by using a direct comparison with an analytic equilibrium known as a generalized Solov'ev equilibrium, and the governing force balance relation is tested by examining the intrinsic axisymmetric instabilities. As an application of an advanced equilibrium study, a snow-flake divertor configuration that requires a second-order zero of the poloidal magnetic flux is discussed in the circumstance of the Korea superconducting tokamak advanced research (KSTAR) coil system.

The theory of forced magnetic field reconnection induced by an externally imposed resonant magnetic perturbation usually uses a sheared slab or cylindrical magnetic field model and often focuses on the potential time-asymptotic induced magnetic island state. However, tokamak plasmas have significant magnetic geometry and dynamical plasma toroidal rotation screening effects. Also, finite ion Larmor radius (FLR) and banana width (FBW) effects can damp and thus limit the width of a nascent magnetic island. A theory that is more applicable for tokamak plasmas is being developed. This new model of the dynamics of forced magnetic reconnection considers a single helicity magnetic perturbation in the tokamak magnetic field geometry, uses a kinetically-derived collisional parallel electron flow response, and employs a comprehensive dynamical equation for the plasma toroidal rotation frequency. It is being used to explore the dynamics of bifurcation into a magnetically reconnected state in the thin singular layer around the rational surface, evolution into a generalized Rutherford regime where the island width exceeds the singular layer width, and assess the island width limiting effects of FLR and FBW polarization currents. Support by DoE grants DE-FG02-86ER53218, DE-FG02-92ER54139.

The metal centre-post (MCP) in tokamaks is a structure which carries the total toroidal field current and also houses the Ohmic heating solenoid in conventional or low aspect ratio (Spherical)(ST) tokamaks. The MCP and solenoid are critical components for producing the toroidal field and for the limited Ohmic flux in STs. Constraints for a ST reactor related to these limitations lead to a minimum plasma aspect ratio of 1.4 which reduces the benefit of operation at higher betas in a more compact ST reactor. Replacing the MCP is of great interest for reactor-based ST studies since the device is simplified, compactness increased, and maintenance reduced. An experiment to show the feasibility of using a plasma centre-post (PCP) is being currently under construction and involves a high level of complexity. A preliminary study of a very simple PCP, which is ECR(Electron Cyclotron Resonance)-assisted and which includes an innovative fuelling system based on pellet injection, has recently been reported. This is highly suitable for an ultra-low aspect ratio tokamak (ULART) device. Advances on this PCP ECR-assisted concept within a ULART and the associated fuelling system are presented here, and will include the field topology for the PCP ECR-assisted scheme, pellet ablation modeling, and a possible global equilibrium simulation. VIE-ITCR, IAEA-CRP contr.17592, National Instruments-Costa Rica.

The Advanced Divertor and RF Tokamak Experiment (ADX) is a design concept for a compact high-field tokamak that would address boundary plasma and plasma-material interaction physics challenges whose solution is critical for the viability of magnetic fusion energy. This device would have two crucial missions. First, it would serve as a Divertor Test Tokamak, developing divertor geometries, materials and operational scenarios that could meet the stringent requirements imposed in a fusion power plant. By operating at high field, ADX would address this problem at a level of power loading and other plasma conditions that are essentially identical to those expected in a future reactor. Secondly, ADX would investigate the physics and engineering of high-field-side launch of RF waves for current drive and heating. Efficient current drive is an essential element for achieving steady-state in a practical, power producing fusion device and high-field launch offers the prospect of higher efficiency, better control of the current profile and survivability of the launching structures. ADX would carry out this research in integrated scenarios that simultaneously demonstrate the required boundary regimes consistent with efficient current drive and core performance.

Bayesian optimization is applied to tokamak scenario optimizations. The key advantages are 1) a reduced number of objective function evaluations, 2) no need for derivatives, and 3) the possibility to include a prior knowledge. This is of a great value for optimizing tokamak scenarios, where several (competing) objectives with often unknown magnitudes exist and the number of parameters is large (>10). The first two properties imply that Bayesian optimization is well suited for heavy, complex objective functions. Reusing previous iterations as priors for next optimization steps effectively enables interactive, multiobjective optimizations, regardless of whether a human decision maker is included or not. We show that these features make Bayesian optimization an outstanding tool for optimizing tokamak scenarios. Objective functions and constraints, targeting, e.g., fusion gain, flux consumption, coils currents limits or q-profile, can be assembled interactively. The optimized parameter vector may include actuators like plasma current or heating waveforms. We demonstrate the capabilities on optimizing ITER and DEMO-like scenarios, simulated by the METIS code.

The former spherical tokamak MEDUSA (Madison EDUcation Small Aspect.ratio tokamak, R < 0.14m, a < 0.10m, BT < 0.5T, Ip < 40kA, 3ms pulse) is currently being recomissioned at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, as part of an agreement between the Faculties of Mech.-Elect. Eng. and Phy. Sci.-Maths. The main objective for having MEDUSA is to train students in plasma physics & technical related issues, aiming a full design of a medium size device (e.g. Tokamak-T). Details of technical modifications and a preliminary scientific programme will be presented. MEDUSA-MX will also benefit any developments in the existing Mexican Fusion Network. Strong liaison within national and international plasma physics communities is expected. New activities on plasma & engineering modeling are expected to be developed in parallel by using the existing facilities such as a multi-platform computer (Silicon Graphics Altix XE250, 128G RAM, 3.7TB HD, 2.7GHz, quad-core processor), ancillary graph system (NVIDIA Quadro FE 2000/1GB GDDR-5 PCI X16 128, 3.2GHz), and COMSOL Multiphysics-Solid Works programs.

Recent findings show that cross field edge plasma transport at tokamak edge does not necessarily obey a simple diffusive law [1], the only type of a transport model applied so far in the macroscopic modeling of edge plasma transport. Cross field edge transport is more likely due to plasma filamentation with a ballistic motion of the filaments towards the first wall. Moreover, it so fast that plasma recycles on the main chamber first wall rather than to flow into divertor as conventional picture of edge plasma fluxes suggests. Crudely speaking particle recycling wise diverted tokamak operates in a limiter regime due to fast anomalous non-diffusive cross field plasma transport. Obviously that this newly found feature of edge plasma anomalous transport can significantly alter a design of any future reactor relevant tokamaks. Here we present a simple model describing the motion of the filaments in the scrape off layer and discuss it implications for experimental observations. [1] M. Umansky, S. I. Krasheninnikov, B. LaBombard, B. Lipschultz, and J. L. Terry, Phys. Plasmas 6 (1999) 2791; M. Umansky, S. I. Krasheninnikov, B. LaBombard and J. L. Terry, Phys. Plasmas 5 (1998) 3373.

Edge-localized-modes (ELMs) are a ubiquitous feature of H-mode in tokamaks. When gradients in the H-mode transport barrier grow to exceed the MHD stability limit the ELM instability grows explosively, rapidly transporting energy and particles onto open field lines and material surfaces. Though ELMs provide additional particle and impurity transport through the H-mode transport barrier, enabling steady operation, the resulting heat flux transients to plasma facing surfaces project to large amplitude in future low collisionality burning plasma tokamaks. Measurements of the ELM heat flux deposition onto material surfaces in the divertor and main chamber indicate significant broadening compared to inter-ELM heat flux, with a timescale for energy deposition that is consistent with sonic ion flow and numerical simulation. Comprehensive ELM simulation is highlighting the important physics processes of ELM transport including parallel transport due to magnetic reconnection and turbulence resulting from collapse of the H-mode transport barrier. Encouraging prospects for ELM control and/or suppression in future tokamaks include intrinsic modes of ELM free operation, ELM triggering with frequent small pellet injection and the application of 3D magnetic fields.

A novel remote suppressor consisting of an injected ion beam has been used for the stabilization of plasma instabilities. A collisionless curvature-driven trapped-particle instability, an [bold E][times][bold B] flute mode and an ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability have been successfully suppressed down to noise levels using this scheme. Furthermore, the first experimental demonstration of a multimode feedback stabilization with a single sensor--suppressor pair has been achieved. Two modes (an [bold E][times][bold B] flute and an ITG mode) were simultaneously stabilized with a simple state-feedback-type method where more state'' information was generated from a single-sensor Langmuir probe by appropriate signal processing. The above experiments may be considered as paradigms for controlling several important tokamak instabilities. First, feedback suppression of edge fluctuations in a tokamak with a suitable form of insulated segmented poloidal limiter sections used as Langmuir-probe-like suppressors is proposed. Other feedback control schemes are proposed for the suppression of electrostatic core fluctuations via appropriately phased ion density input from a modulated neutral beam. Most importantly, a scheme to control major disruptions in tokamaks via feedback suppression of kink (and possibly) tearing modes is discussed. This may be accomplished by using a modulated neutral beam suppressor in a feedback loop, which will supply a momentum input of appropriate phase and amplitude. Simple theoretical models predict modest levels of beam energy, current, and power.

This report describes work done on the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT), both at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and at other fusion laboratories in the United States. The goal of CIT is to reach ignition in a tokamak fusion device in the mid-1990's. Scientific and engineering features of the design are described, as well as projected cost and schedule.

The application of nonlinear Fokker-Planck models to the study of beam-driven plasmas is briefly reviewed. This evolution of models has led to a Fokker-Planck/Transport (FPT) model for neutral-beam-driven Tokamaks, which is described in detail. The FPT code has been applied to the PLT, PDX, and TFTR Tokamaks, and some representative results are presented.

A program is described to develop the advanced tokamak physics required for an economic steady-state fusion reactor on existing (short-pulse) tokamak experiments; to extend these operating modes to long-pulse on TPX; and finally to demonstrate them in a long-pulse D-T plasma on ITER.

A tokamak circuit theory, including results of numerical simulation studies, is applied to a control system synthesized for a Joule heated tokamak plasma. The treatment is similar to that of Ogata and Ninomiya (1979) except that in this case a quadrupole field coil current is considered coexisting with image induced on a vacuum chamber.

The world needs a great deal of carbon free energy, and soon, for civilization to continue. Fusion's goal is to develop such a carbon free energy source. For the last 4 decades, tokamaks have been the best magnetic fusion has to offer. But what if its development stops short of commercial fusion? This paper introduces `conservative design principles' for tokamaks. These are very simple, are reasonably based in theory, and have always constrained tokamak operation. Assuming they continue to do so, it is unlikely that tokamaks will ever make it as commercial reactors. This is independent of their confinement properties. However because of the large additional gain in hybrid fusion, tokamaks reactors look like they can make it as hybrid fuel producers, and provide large scale power by mid century or shortly thereafter.

The Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) is an advanced tokamak project aimed at the production of quasi-steady state plasmas with advanced shape, heating, and particle control. TPX is to be built at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) using many of the facilities from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). TPX will be the first tokamak to utilize superconducting (SC) magnets in both the toroidal field (TF) and poloidal field (PF) systems. This new feature requires a departure from the traditional tokamak power supply schemes. This paper describes the plan for the adaptation of the PPPL/FTR power system facilities to supply TPX. Five major areas are addressed, namely the AC power system, the TF, PF and Fast Plasma Position Control (FPPC) power supplies, and quench protection for the TF and PF systems. Special emphasis is placed on the development of new power supply and protection schemes.

A thermographic camera and four hard x-ray detectors have been developed to measure the runaway electrons in the HT-7 tokamak. The synchrotron radiation originated from the runaway electrons was measured by an infrared (IR) camera working in the wavelength ranges of 7.5-13 {mu}m. With a tangential viewing into the plasma in the direction of the electron approach on the equatorial plane, the synchrotron radiation from the runaway electrons was measured in a full poloidal cross section. Three NaI scintillators are used to monitor the hard x-ray radiation (HXR) in the energy ranges of 0.5-7 MeV, and a CdTe detector is used to monitor the low-energy HXR in the energy ranges of 0.3-1.2 MeV. The combination of infrared camera and hard x-ray detectors provides a powerful tool to investigate the runaway electron dynamics in HT-7. Runaways in the core and edge regions are monitored simultaneously. The parameters of runaway beam in the core are deduced from the IR pictures. The interaction of runway electrons with toroidal magnetic field ripple is monitored from the HXR emission.

In this work, the author applied a systematic calibration, validation and application procedure based on the methodology of mathematical modeling to international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) ignition studies. The multi-mode plasma transport model used here includes a linear combination of drift wave branch and ballooning branch instabilities with two a priori uncertain constants to account for anomalous plasma transport in tokamaks. A Bayesian parameter estimation method is used including experimental calibration error/model offsets and error bar rescaling factors to determine the two uncertain constants in the transport model with quantitative confidence level estimates for the calibrated parameters, which gives two saturation levels of instabilities. This method is first tested using a gyroBohm multi-mode transport model with a pair of DIII-D discharge experimental data, and then applied to calibrating a nominal multi-mode transport model against a broad database using twelve discharges from seven different tokamaks. The calibrated transport model is then validated on five discharges from JT-60 with no adjustable constants. The results are in a good agreement with experimental data. Finally, the resulting class of multi-mode tokamak plasma transport models is applied to the transport analysis of the ignition probability in a next generation machine, ITER. A reference simulation of basic ITER engineering design activity (EDA) parameters shows that a self-sustained thermonuclear burn with 1.5 GW output power can be achieved provided that impurity control makes radiative losses sufficiently small at an average plasma density of 1.2 X 1020/m3 with 50 MW auxiliary heating. The ignition probability of ITER for the EDA parameters, can be formally as high as 99.9% in the present context. The same probability for concept design activity (CDA) parameters of ITER, which has smaller size and lower current, is only 62.6%.

The intrusion of an equipotential poloidal limiter into the edge plasma of a circular tokamak discharge distorts the axisymmetry in two ways: (1) it (partially) shorts out the top-to-bottom Pfirsch-Schlueter driving potentials, and (2) it creates zones of back current flow into the limiter. The resulting boundary mismatch between the outer layers and the inner axisymmetric Pfirsch-Schlueter layer provides free energy to drive the edge plasma unstable. Special limiters are proposed to symmetrize the edge plasma and thereby reduce the electrical and MHD activity in the boundary layer.

Observations of nearly zero toroidal current in the central region of tokamaks (the "current hole") raises the question of the existence of toroidal equilibria with very low or reversed current in the core. The solutions of the Grad-Shafranov equilibrium equation with hollow toroidal current density profile including negative current density in the plasma center are investigated. Solutions of the corresponding eigenvalue problem provide simple examples of such equilibrium configurations. More realistic equilibria with toroidal current density reversal are computed using a new equilibrium problem formulation and computational algorithm which do not assume nested magnetic surfaces.

A fluid representation of viscosity has been incorporated into a set of fluid equations that are maximally ordered in the 'short radial gradient scale length' (srgsl) ordering that is appropriate for the edge of tokamak plasmas. The srgsl ordering raises viscous drifts and other viscous terms to leading order and fundamentally alters the character of the fluid equations. A leasing order viscous drift is identified. Viscous-driven radial particle and energy fluxes in the scrape-off layer and divertor channel are estimated to have an order unity effect in reducing radial peaking of energy fluxes transported along the field lines to divertor collector plates.

We demonstrate that in a 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, for some parameters it is possible to form a stationary state in a tokamak where a saturated interchange mode in the center of the discharge drives a near helical flow pattern that acts to non-linearly sustain the configuration by adjusting the central loop voltage through a dynamo action. This could explain the physical mechanism for maintaining stationary non-sawtoothing “hybrid” discharges, often referred to as “flux-pumping”.

A fluid representation of viscosity has been incorporated into a set of fluid equations that are maximally ordered in the ``short-radial-gradient-scale-length`` (srgsl) ordering that is appropriate for the edge of tokamak plasmas. The srgsl ordering raises viscous drifts and other viscous terms to leading order and fundamentally alters the character of the fluid equations. A leasing order viscous drift is identified. Viscous-driven radial particle and energy fluxes in the scrape-off layer and divertor channel are estimated to have an order unity effect in reducing radial peaking of energy fluxes transported along the field lines to divertor collector plates.

A nonlinear electrostatic gyrokinetic Vlasov equation, as well as Poisson equation, has been derived in a form suitable for particle simulation studies of tokamak microturbulence and associated anomalous transport. This work differs from the existing nonlinear gyrokinetic theories in toroidal geometry, since the present equations conserve energy while retaining the crucial linear and nonlinear polarization physics. In the derivation, the action-variational Lie perturbation method is utilized in order to preserve the Hamiltonian structure of the original Vlasov-Poisson system. Emphasis is placed on the dominant physics of the collective fluctuations in toroidal geometry, rather than on details of particle orbits. 13 refs.

Measurements of diamagnetic flux in Aditya tokamak for different discharge conditions are reported for the first time. The measured diamagnetic flux in a typical discharge is less than 0.6 mWb and therefore it has required careful compensation for various kinds of pick-ups. The hardware and software compensations employed in this measurement are described. We introduce compensation of a pick-up due to plasma current of less than 20 kA in short duration discharges, in which plasma pressure gradient is supposed to be negligible. The flux measurement during radio frequency heating is also presented in order to validate compensation.

Measurements of diamagnetic flux in Aditya tokamak for different discharge conditions are reported for the first time. The measured diamagnetic flux in a typical discharge is less than 0.6 mWb and therefore it has required careful compensation for various kinds of pick-ups. The hardware and software compensations employed in this measurement are described. We introduce compensation of a pick-up due to plasma current of less than 20 kA in short duration discharges, in which plasma pressure gradient is supposed to be negligible. The flux measurement during radio frequency heating is also presented in order to validate compensation.

A simple approach to efficiently solve a coupled set of 1-D diffusion-type transport equations with a stiff transport model for tokamak plasmas is presented based on the 4th order accurate Interpolated Differential Operator scheme along with a nonlinear iteration method derived from a root-finding algorithm. Here, numerical tests using the Trapped Gyro-Landau-Fluid model show that the presented high order method provides an accurate transport solution using a small number of grid points with robust nonlinear convergence.

We detail the study of diagnostic windows and window thermal stress remediation in the long-pulse, high-power Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) operation. The operating environment of the TPX diagnostic windows is reviewed, thermal loads on the windows estimated, and cooling requirements for the windows considered. Applicable window-cooling technology from other fields is reviewed and its application to the TPX windows considered. Methods for TPX window thermal conditioning are recommended, with some discussion of potential implementation problems provided. Recommendations for further research and development work to ensure performance of windows in the TPX system are presented.

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) mission is to achieve ignition and provide the capability to experimentally study burning plasma behavior. A national team has developed a baseline concept including definition of the necessary research and development. The baseline concept satisfies the physics performance objectives established for the project and complies with defined design specifications. To ensure that the mission is achieved, the design requires large magnetic fields on axis (10 T) and use of large plasma currents (10 MA). The design is capable of accommodating significant auxiliary heating to enter the ignited regime. The CIT is designed to operate in plasma parameter regimes that a are directly relevant to future fusion power reactors.

The density in a tokamak can be determined by measuring the Faraday rotation of a laser directed tangent to the toroidal field. If there is a horizontal array of such beams, then ne(R) can be readily obtained with a simple Abel inversion about the center line of the tokamak. For a large machine, such as ITER, TPX, or JT-60, a 10.6 μm laser would be appropriate. If the machine operated at a full field of 10-50 T m and a peak density of 2.5×1020/m3, the rotation angle would be quite large—about 15°-75° per pass. An elegant measurement system can be made up from a single laser beam diffracted off a moving grating to form a fan of ˜10 probe beams. With the addition of a few optical components to the system, the return beams can be recombined and sent to a single detector. In the detector there is a separate frequency component for both the right and left hand component of each ray. These can be separated electronically to provide a reference and probe signal for each ray; the difference in phase between the two signals is twice the Faraday rotation angle.

The lithium tokamak experiment (LTX) is a spherical tokamak with R(0)=0.4 m, a=0.26 m, B(TF) approximately 3.4 kG, I(P) approximately 400 kA, and pulse length approximately 0.25 s. The focus of LTX is to investigate the novel low-recycling lithium wall operating regime for magnetically confined plasmas. This regime is reached by placing an in-vessel shell conformal to the plasma last closed flux surface. The shell is heated and then coated with liquid lithium. An extensive array of magnetic diagnostics is available to characterize the experiment, including 80 Mirnov coils (single and double axis, internal and external to the shell), 34 flux loops, 3 Rogowskii coils, and a diamagnetic loop. Diagnostics are specifically located to account for the presence of a secondary conducting surface and engineered to withstand both high temperatures and incidental contact with liquid lithium. The diagnostic set is therefore fabricated from robust materials with heat and lithium resistance and is designed for electrical isolation from the shell and to provide the data required for highly constrained equilibrium reconstructions.

The propagation, scattering and absorption of the lower hybrid and electron cyclotron RF waves used to control fusion plasmas is reviewed. Drift wave turbulence driven by the steep ion and electron temperature gradients in H-mode divertor tokamaks produces strong scattering of the RF waves used for heating and plasma currents drive Both the 3-5GHz lower-hybrid (LH) and the 170GHZ electron cyclotron (EC) waves experience scattering and diffraction as propagating through the statistically complex density of the plasma. Ray equations are used to calculate the spread of the rays and the associated change in the parallel phase, polarization and group velocity of the RF waves in the propagation through the fusion plasma. A Fokker Planck equation for the phase space of the RF plasmons is one method to describe the spread of the RF wave power in the complex geometry of a divertor tokamak using the ray tracing codes. The evolution of the electron distribution function from the resonant electron-wave interactions is summarized for several scenarios. The resulting X-ray spectrum is broaden giving better agreement with the measured X-ray spectrum than that calculated in the absence of the turbulent scattering of the RF waves. M. Goniche et al., and Tore Supra Team, Phys. Plasmas 21, 2014.

Collective fast ion effects on flows in tokamaks are investigated analytically and numerically. A general analysis of noncollisional electrodynamic momentum transfer from fast ions to bulk plasma is presented, with polarization effects and dissipation in the bulk plasma taken into account. The analysis is illustrated using idealized simulations of fast ion orbits and radial electric fields in the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) [A. Sykes, R. J. Akers, L. C. Appel et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, 1423 (2001)], the Joint European Torus (JET) [P. H. Rebut et al., Nucl. Fusion 25, 1011 (1985)], and ITER [R. Aymar, P. Barabaschi, and Y. Shimomura, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 44, 519 (2002)]. In the MAST simulation, prompt losses of beam ions injected counter to the plasma current drive up a radial electric field that saturates at a level such that beam ions subsequently injected are confined electrostatically. Although the actual radial electric fields in counterinjected MAST discharges are lower than this, the scenario explored in the simulation would be approached in MAST plasmas with sufficiently low collisionality. The JET simulation, although unrealistic, shows that a similar process could be driven by losses of fusion {alpha}-particles from a burning plasma. Test-particle simulations of {alpha}-particles in ITER suggest that performance-limiting instabilities such as neoclassical tearing modes and resistive wall modes could be affected significantly by flows associated with radial fast particle currents.

Collective fast ion effects on flows in tokamaks are investigated analytically and numerically. A general analysis of noncollisional electrodynamic momentum transfer from fast ions to bulk plasma is presented, with polarization effects and dissipation in the bulk plasma taken into account. The analysis is illustrated using idealized simulations of fast ion orbits and radial electric fields in the Mega-Ampère Spherical Tokamak (MAST) [A. Sykes, R. J. Akers, L. C. Appel et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, 1423 (2001)], the Joint European Torus (JET) [P. H. Rebut et al., Nucl. Fusion 25, 1011 (1985)], and ITER [R. Aymar, P. Barabaschi, and Y. Shimomura, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 44, 519 (2002)]. In the MAST simulation, prompt losses of beam ions injected counter to the plasma current drive up a radial electric field that saturates at a level such that beam ions subsequently injected are confined electrostatically. Although the actual radial electric fields in counterinjected MAST discharges are lower than this, the scenario explored in the simulation would be approached in MAST plasmas with sufficiently low collisionality. The JET simulation, although unrealistic, shows that a similar process could be driven by losses of fusion α-particles from a burning plasma. Test-particle simulations of α-particles in ITER suggest that performance-limiting instabilities such as neoclassical tearing modes and resistive wall modes could be affected significantly by flows associated with radial fast particle currents.

A fixed combination of theory-based transport models, called the Multi-Mode Model, is used in the BALDUR [C. E. Singer {ital et al.}, Comput. Phys. Commun. {bold 49}, 275 (1988)] transport simulation code to predict the temperature and density profiles in tokamaks. The choice of the Multi-Mode Model has been guided by the philosophy of using the best transport theories available for the various modes of turbulence that dominate in different parts of the plasma. The Multi-Mode model has been found to provide a better match to temperature and density profiles than any of the other theory-based models currently available. A description and partial derivation of the Multi-Mode Model is presented, together with three new examples of simulations of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [K. M. McGuire {ital et al.}, Phys. Plasmas {bold 2}, 2176 (1995)]. The first simulation shows the strong effect of recycling on the ion temperature profile in TFTR supershot simulations. The second simulation explores the effect of a plasma current ramp{emdash}where the plasma energy content changes slowly on the energy confinement time scale. The third simulation shows that the Multi-Mode Model reproduces the experimentally measured profiles when tritium is used as the hydrogenic isotope in L-mode (low confinement mode) plasmas. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}

A complete understanding of anomalous transport is critical for designing future magnetic fusion reactors. It is generally accepted that the micro-scale turbulence leads to anomalous transport. For low beta toroidal plasmas, the electrostatic modes may dominate and ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode and trapped electron mode (TEM) are two very important candidates accounting for ion and electron turbulent transport respectively. Recently the massively parallel gyrokinetic simulation has emerged as a major tool to investigate the nonlinear physics of the turbulent transport. The newly-developed capabilities enable the gyrokinetic code GTC to simulate the turbulent transport for real tokamak plasma shape and profiles. These capabilities include a new gyrokinetic Poisson solver and zonal flow solver suitable for general plasma shape and profiles, improvements on the conventional four-point gyroaverage and newly-developed nonuniform initial marker loading. The GTC code is now able to import experimental plasma profiles and equilibrium magnetic field that come from the EFIT or TRANSP equilibrium reconstruction. Linear and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations are carried out with the new capabilities in GTC for the electron coherent mode (ECM) recently observed in the EAST tokamak (EAST shot # 38300). We found that in the pedestal region with strong electron temperature gradient, the unstable waves propagate in the electron diamagnetic direction, showing a trapped electron mode (TEM) feature. It is also found in the collisionless limit, the linear mode frequency is higher than that from the experiment.

As part of a continuing effort by the Office of Fusion Energy to define an ignition experiment, a superconducting tokamak has been designed with thin neutron shielding and aggressive magnet and plasma parameters. By so minimizing the inner radial dimensions of the tokamak center post, coil, and shielding region, the plasma major radius is reduced, with a corresponding reduction in device costs. The peak nuclear-heating rate in the superconducting TF coils is 22 mW/cmT, which results in a steady heat load of 50 kW to the cryogenic system. Fast-wave, lower-hybrid heating would be used to induce a 10-MA current in a moderate density plasma. Then pellet fueling would raise the density to achieve ignition as the current decays in a few hundred seconds. Steady-state current drive in subignited conditions permits a 0.8 MW/mS average wall loading to study plasma and nuclear engineering effects. 10 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Magnetic field ripple from a tokamak bundle divertor is localized to a small toroidal sector and must be treated differently from the usual (distributed) toroidal field (TF) coil ripple. Generally, in a tokamak with an unoptimized divertor design, all of the banana-trapped fast ions are quickly lost due to banana drift diffusion or to trapping between the 1/R variation in absolute value vector B ..xi.. B and local field maxima due to the divertor. A computer code has been written to optimize automatically on-axis ripple subject to these constraints, while varying up to nine design parameters. Optimum configurations have low on-axis ripple (<0.2%) so that, now, most banana-trapped fast ions are confined. Only those ions with banana tips near the outside region (absolute value theta < or equal to 45/sup 0/) are lost. However, because finite-sized TF coils have not been used in this study, the flux bundle is not expanded.

/sup 3/He placed in an annular cell around a tokamak fusion generator can convert moderated fusion neutrons to energetic ions by the /sup 3/He(n,p)T reaction, and thereby excite gaseous lasants mixed with the /sup 3/He while simultaneously breeding tritium. The total /sup 3/He inventory is about 4 kg for large tokamak devices. Special configurations of toroidal-field magnets, neutron moderators and beryllium reflectors are required to permit nearly uniform neutron current into the laser cell with minimal attenuation. The annular laser radiation can be combined into a single output beam at the top of the tokamak.

Parametric studies were conducted using the Fusion Engineering Design Center (FEDC) Tokamak Systems Code to investigate the impact of veriation in physics parameters and technology limits on the performance and cost of a low q/sub psi/, high beta, quasi-steady-state tokamak for the purpose of fusion engineering experimentation. The features and characteristics chosen from each study were embodied into a single Advanced Physics Tokamak design for which a self-consistent set of parameters was generated and a value of capital cost was estimated.

Nonlinear electromagnetic stabilization by suprathermal pressure gradients found in specific regimes is shown to be a key factor in reducing tokamak microturbulence, augmenting significantly the thermal pressure electromagnetic stabilization. Based on nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations investigating a set of ion heat transport experiments on the JET tokamak, described by Mantica et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 135004 (2011)], this result explains the experimentally observed ion heat flux and stiffness reduction. These findings are expected to improve the extrapolation of advanced tokamak scenarios to reactor relevant regimes.

The Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL is studying the physics of intense pulse ECH is a high-density tokamak plasma using a microwave FEL. Related technology development includes the FEL, a windowless quasi-optical transmission system, and other microwave components. Initial plasma experiments have been carried out at 140 GHz with single rf pulses generated using the ETA-II accelerator and the ELF wiggler. Peak power levels up to 0.2 GW and pulse durations up to 10 ns were achieved for injection into the plasma using as untapered wiggler. FEL pulses were transmitted over 33 m from the FEL to MTX using six mirrors mounted in a 50-cm-diam evacuated pipe. Measurements of the microwave beam and transmission through the plasma were carried out. For future rapid pulse experiments at high average power (4 GW peak power, 5kHz pulse rate, and {bar P} > 0.5 MW) using the IMP wiggler with tapered magnetic field, a gyrotron (140 GHz, 400 kW cw or up to 1 MW short pulse) is being installed to drive the FEL input or to directly heat the tokamak plasma at full gyrotron power. Quasi-optic techniques will be used to couple the gyrotron power. For direct plasma heating, the gyrotron will couple into the existing mirror transport system. Using both sources of rf generation, experiments are planned to investigate intense pulse absorption and tokamak physics, such as the ECH of a pellet-fueled plasma and plasma control using localized heating. 12 refs., 9 figs.

The Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) at LLNL is studying the physics of intense pulse ECH is a high-density tokamak plasma using a microwave FEL. Related technology development includes the FEL, a windowless quasi-optical transmission system, and other microwave components. Initial plasma experiments have been carried out at 140 GHz with single RF pulses generated using the ETA-2 accelerator and the ELF wiggler. Peak power levels up to 0.2 GW and pulse durations up to 10 ns were achieved for injection into the plasma using as untapered wiggler. FEL pulses were transmitted over 33 m from the FEL to MTX using six mirrors mounted in a 50 cm diam evacuated pipe. Measurements of the microwave beam and transmission through the plasma were carried out. For future rapid pulse experiments at high average power (4 GW peak power, 5 kHz pulse rate, and bar P is greater than 0.5 MW) using the IMP wiggler with tapered magnetic field, a gyrotron (140 GHz, 400 kW CW or up to 1 MW short pulse) is being installed to drive the FEL input or to directly heat the tokamak plasma at full gyrotron power. Quasi-optic techniques will be used to couple the gyrotron power. For direct plasma heating, the gyrotron will couple into the existing mirror transport system. Using both sources of RF generation, experiments are planned to investigate intense pulse absorption and tokamak physics, such as the ECH of a pellet-fueled plasma and plasma control using localized heating.

A cost model is presented which is useful for survey and comparative studies of tokamak reactors. The model is heavily based on STARFIRE and WILDCAT costing guidelines, philosophies, and procedures and reproduces the costing for these devices quite accurately.

Instead of the theory of invariant manifolds and entropy reduction, the theory of fractional Brownian motions and artificiall neural networks is used for description of advanced methods for control of tokamak plasma behaviour.

This report summarizes the proceedings of a Workshop on transport models for prediction and analysis of tokamak plasma confinement. Summaries of papers on theory, predictive modeling, and data analysis are included.

This work strongly exploits the interdisciplinary links between astrophysical (such as the solar upper atmosphere) and laboratory plasmas (such as tokamak devices) by sharing the development of a common modelling for time-dependent ionisation. This is applied to the interpretation of solar flare data observed by the UVSP (Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter), on-board the Solar Maximum Mission and the IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph), and also to data from B2-SOLPS (Scrape Off Layer Plasma Simulations) for MAST (Mega Ampère Spherical Tokamak) Super-X divertor upgrade. The derived atomic data, calculated in the framework of the ADAS (Atomic Data and Analysis Structure) project, allow equivalent prediction in non-stationary transport regimes and transients of both the solar atmosphere and tokamak divertors, except that the tokamak evolution is about one thousand times faster.

Concepts for improving tokamak performance by utilizing injection of hot electrons are discussed. Motivation of this paper is to introduce the research work being performed in this area and to refer the interested readers to the literature for more detail. The electron injection based concepts presented here have been developed in the CDX, CCT, and CDX-U tokamak facilities. The following three promising application areas of electron injection are described here: 1. Non-inductive current drive, 2. Plasma preionization for tokamak start-up assist, and 3. Charging-up of tokamak flux surfaces for improved plasma confinement. The main motivation for the dc-helicity injection current drive is in its efficiency that, in theory, is independent of plasma density. This property makes it attractive for driving currents in high density reactor plasmas.

The initial design of a microwave calorimeter for the Microwave Tokamak Experiment is presented. The design is optimized to measure the refraction and absorption of millimeter rf microwaves as they traverse the toroidal plasma of the Alcator C tokamak. Techniques utilized can be adapted for use in measuring high intensity pulsed output from a microwave device in an environment of ultra high vacuum, intense fields of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and intense magnetic fields. 16 refs.

The progress made in understanding spontaneous toroidal rotation reversals in tokamaks is reviewed and current ideas to solve this ten-year-old puzzle are explored. The paper includes a summarial synthesis of the experimental observations in AUG, C-Mod, KSTAR, MAST and TCV tokamaks, reasons why turbulent momentum transport is thought to be responsible for the reversals, a review of the theory of turbulent momentum transport and suggestions for future investigations.

A remarkable degree of consistency of experimental results from tokamaks throughout the world has developed with regard to the phenomenology of the transition from L-mode to H-mode confinement in tokamaks. The transition is initiated in a narrow layer at the plasma periphery where density fluctuations are suppressed and steep gradients of temperature and density form in a region with large first and second radial derivatives in the [upsilon][sub E][sup [yields

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory was operated from 1982 until 1997. The last several years included operations with mixtures of deuterium and tritium. In September 2002, the three year Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Project for TFTR was successfully completed. The need to deal with tritium contamination as well as activated materials led to the adaptation of many techniques from the maintenance work during TFTR operations to the D&D effort. In addition, techniques from the decommissioning of fission reactors were adapted to the D&D of TFTR and several new technologies, most notably the development of a diamond wire cutting process for complex metal structures, were developed. These techniques, along with a project management system that closely linked the field crews to the engineering staff who developed the techniques and procedures via a Work Control Center, resulted in a project that was completed safely, on time, and well below budget.

The sensitivity of tokamak plasmas to very small deviations from the axisymmetry of the magnetic field |deltaB/B| approximately 10{-4} is well known. What was not understood until very recently is the importance of the perturbation to the plasma equilibrium in assessing the effects of externally produced asymmetries in the magnetic field, even far from a stability limit. DIII-D and NSTX experiments find that when the deleterious effects of asymmetries are mitigated, the external asymmetric field was often made stronger and had an increased interaction with the magnetic field of the unperturbed equilibrium. This Letter explains these counterintuitive results. The explanation using ideal perturbed equilibria has important implications for the control of field errors in all toroidal plasmas.

The effect of flow shear on turbulent transport in tokamaks is studied numerically in the experimentally relevant limit of zero magnetic shear. It is found that the plasma is linearly stable for all nonzero flow shear values, but that subcritical turbulence can be sustained nonlinearly at a wide range of temperature gradients. Flow shear increases the nonlinear temperature gradient threshold for turbulence but also increases the sensitivity of the heat flux to changes in the temperature gradient, except over a small range near the threshold where the sensitivity is decreased. A bifurcation in the equilibrium gradients is found: for a given input of heat, it is possible, by varying the applied torque, to trigger a transition to significantly higher temperature and flow gradients.

The achievement of long duration, alternating current discharges on the tokamak IST-TOK requires a real-time plasma position control system. The plasma position determination based on magnetic probes system has been found to be inadequate during the current inversion due to the reduced plasma current. A tomography diagnostic has been therefore installed to supply the required feedback to the control system. Several tomographic methods are available for soft X-ray or bolo-metric tomography, among which the Cormack and Neural networks methods stand out due to their inherent speed of up to 1000 reconstructions per second, with currently available technology. This paper discusses the application of these algorithms on fusion devices while comparing performance and reliability of the results. It has been found that although the Cormack based inversion proved to be faster, the neural networks reconstruction has fewer artifacts and is more accurate.

Investigation of the effect of pressure anisotropy on tokamak equilibrium and stability is made with an MHD model. Realistic perpendicular and parallel pressure distributions, P/sub perpendicular/(psi,B) and P/sub parallel/(psi,B), are obtained by solving a one-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation for neutral beam injection to find a distribution function f(E, v/sub parallel//v) at the position of minimum field on each magnetic surface and then using invariance of the magnetic moment to determine its value at each point on the surface. The shift of the surfaces of constant perpendicular and parallel pressure from the flux surfaces depends strongly on the angle of injection. This shift explains the observed increase or decrease in the stability conditions. Estimates of the stabilizing effect of hot trapped ions indicates that a large fraction must be nonresonant and thus decoupled from the bad curvature before it becomes important.

A 140GHz electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive (EC H and CD) project for EAST Tokamak is launched in 2011 with a total power of 4MW and pulse length of 100 s. The main objectives of the system are to provide central H and CD, assist start-up and control of MHD activities. The system comprises four gyrotrons each with nominal output power of 1MW at 140GHz. The RF power, transmitted through four evacuated corrugated waveguides will be injected into plasma from the low field side (radial port). The front steering equatorial launcher directs the RF beam over ±25° toroidally and scans over 38° poloidally. At present, the construction of the first 1MW system is undergoing for the expected campaign in the end of 2013. In this paper, the current status of the development and the design of the 140-GHz ECRH system are presented.

The production of a lithium deposition system using commercially available components is discussed. This system is intended to provide a fresh lithium wall coating between discharges in a tokamak. For this purpose, a film 100-200 Å thick is sufficient to ensure that the plasma interacts solely with the lithium. A test system consisting of a lithium evaporator and a deposition monitor has been designed and constructed to investigate deposition rates and coverage. A Thermionics 3kW e-gun is used to rapidly evaporate small amounts of solid lithium. An Inficon XTM/2 quartz deposition monitor then measures deposition rate at varying distances, positions and angles relative to the e-gun crucible. Initial results from the test system will be presented. *Supported by US DOE contract #DE-AC02-76CH-03073

Anomalous heat transport caused by ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence in tokamak plasmas is evaluated from numerical simulations of the two-dimensional (2D) partial-differential equations of the ITG model and of a reduced 1D version derived from a quasilinear approximation. In the strongly turbulent state, intermittent bursts of thermal transport are observed in both cases. In the strongly turbulent regime, the reduced model as well as the direct numerical simulation show that the Nusselt number Nu (normalized heat flux) scales with the normalized ion pressure gradient K{sub i} as Nu{proportional_to}K{sub i}{sup 1/3}. Since the Rayleigh number for ITG turbulence is proportional to K{sub i}, the Nusselt number scaling for ITG turbulence is thus similar to the classical thermal transport scaling for Rayleigh-Benard convections in neutral fluids.

Cooldown of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) with the baseline liquid nitrogen cooling system was analyzed. On the basis of this analysis and present knowledge of the two-phase heat transfer, the current baseline CIT can be cooled down in about 1.5 h. An extensive heat transfer test program is recommended to reduce uncertainty in the heat transfer performance and to explore methods for minimizing the cooldown time. An alternate CIT cooldown system is described which uses a pressurized gaseous helium coolant in a closed-loop system. It is shown analytically that this system will cool down the CIT well within 1 h. Confidence in this analysis is sufficiently high that a heat transfer test program would not be necessary. The added cost of this alternate system is estimated to be about $5.3 million. This helium cooling system represents a reasonable backup approach to liquid nitrogen cooling of the CIT. 3 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.

A new {Delta}{sup {prime}} shooting code has been developed to investigate tokamak plasma tearing mode stability in a cylinder and large aspect ratio ({epsilon}{le}0.25) toroidal geometries, neglecting toroidal mode coupling. A different computational algorithm is used (shooting out from the singular surface instead of into it) to resolve the strong singularities at the mode rational surface, particularly in the presence of the finite pressure term. Numerical results compare favorably with Furth {ital et al.} [H. P. Furth {ital et al.}, Phys. Fluids {bold 16}, 1054 (1973)] results. The effects of finite pressure, which are shown to decrease {Delta}{sup {prime}}, are discussed. It is shown that the distortion of the flux surfaces by the Shafranov shift, which modifies the geometry metric elements, stabilizes the tearing mode significantly, even in a low-{beta} regime before the toroidal magnetic curvature effects come into play. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) has a major radius of R0 = 1.75 m and a midplane halfwidth of 0.5 m. It has been operated with a toroidal magnetic field B0 = 2 T and Ip ≤ 500 kA. The evolution of the plasma equilibrium is analysed between discharges by Equilibrium Fitting Code (EFIT). Limiter, single-null and double-null diverted configurations have been produced. A plasma elongation in the range 1.3 ≤ κ ≤ 1.9 and a triangularity in the range 0.1 ≤ δ ≤ 0.55 have been sustained. The operation space of elongated discharges is also presented based on the EAST database.

The Electric Tokamak (ET) at UCLA (Bt=0.25T, R=5m, a=1m, Te(0)=300eV, tau(0)=1s) is now running long shots (5s). A new development program was started last year to include a neutral beam in the daily operations of the machine. As a result, a 10kV neutral beam injector was built to deal with plasma and measurement issues. The design and parameters of the beam are discussed. The source is based on an RF generated plasma, with a single extraction grid providing an accel-decel configuration. Plasma neutralization efficiency is also presented. Co- or counter injection is now possible using a single beam. The construction of a second beam is planned for simultaneous co- and counter injections for toroidal momentum input control. Plasma toroidal and poloidal rotation, particle diffusion and current drive effects will be presented.

The achievement of long duration, alternating current discharges on the tokamak IST-TOK requires a real-time plasma position control system. The plasma position determination based on magnetic probes system has been found to be inadequate during the current inversion due to the reduced plasma current. A tomography diagnostic has been therefore installed to supply the required feedback to the control system. Several tomographic methods are available for soft X-ray or bolo-metric tomography, among which the Cormack and Neural networks methods stand out due to their inherent speed of up to 1000 reconstructions per second, with currently available technology. This paper discusses the application of these algorithms on fusion devices while comparing performance and reliability of the results. It has been found that although the Cormack based inversion proved to be faster, the neural networks reconstruction has fewer artifacts and is more accurate.

The effect of flow shear on turbulent transport in tokamaks is studied numerically in the experimentally relevant limit of zero magnetic shear. It is found that the plasma is linearly stable for all nonzero flow shear values, but that subcritical turbulence can be sustained nonlinearly at a wide range of temperature gradients. Flow shear increases the nonlinear temperature gradient threshold for turbulence but also increases the sensitivity of the heat flux to changes in the temperature gradient, except over a small range near the threshold where the sensitivity is decreased. A bifurcation in the equilibrium gradients is found: for a given input of heat, it is possible, by varying the applied torque, to trigger a transition to significantly higher temperature and flow gradients.

Diagnostic modules equipped with various sensors can provide useful information on key parameters for disruption events, e.g. energy deposition, vapor shielding effect, plasma pressure and force distribution. The modules are, basically, DIMES samples (Divertor Materials Evaluation System) equipped with sensors, coupled to digitizing units and interfaced to a data acquisition system. The DIMES samples are part of the lower diverter diagnostics on the DIII-D tokamak. Three top-cap prototype diagnostics modules have been designed and fabricated. The initial testing and calibration have been performed using the SIRENS plasma gun at an energy deposition of 1 to 12 MJ/m{sup 2} over 0.1 to 1.0 ms, with a plasma pressure >100 MPa.

Runaway electrons created in disruptions pose a serious problem for tokamaks with large current. It would be desirable to have a runaway electron suppression method which is passive, i.e., a method that does not rely on an uncertain disruption prediction system. One option is to let the large electric field inherent in the disruption drive helical currents in the wall. This would create ergodic regions in the plasma and increase the runaway losses. Whether these regions appear at a suitable time and place to affect the formation of the runaway beam depends on disruption parameters, such as electron temperature and density. We find that it is difficult to ergodize the central plasma before a beam of runaway current has formed. However, the ergodic outer region will make the Ohmic current profile contract, which can lead to instabilities that yield large runaway electron losses.

An attractive new limiter concept is investigated. The TRAIL (Tokamak Rail Gun Limiter) system impacts a stream of moderate velocity pellets (100 to 200 m/sec through the plasma edge region to absorb energy and define the plasma boundary. The pellets are recycled, after cooling, to the injector in an E-M mass accelerator. Heat fluxes of approx. 30,000 W/cm/sup 2/ can be readily accommodated by the pellets, with very low recirculating power requirements (approx. 0.1%) for the accelerator. The mass accelerator velocity requirements are well within the present state-of-the-art (several km/sec). Accelerators injecting pellets at approx. 1 km/sec can be used to control local plasma temperature and current profiles and to act as energy absorbers to shut down the plasma without damage to the first wall if a plasma disruption occurs.

This invention provides a vertically stabilized, non-circular (minor) cross-section, toroidal plasma column characterized by an external separatrix. To this end, a specific poloidal coil means is added outside a toroidal plasma column containing an endless plasma current in a tokamak to produce a rectangular cross-section plasma column along the equilibrium axis of the plasma column. By elongating the spacing between the poloidal coil means the plasma cross-section is vertically elongated, while maintaining vertical stability, efficiently to increase the poloidal flux in linear proportion to the plasma cross-section height to achieve a much greater plasma volume than could be achieved with the heretofore known round cross-section plasma columns. Also, vertical stability is enhanced over an elliptical cross-section plasma column, and poloidal magnetic divertors are achieved.

We present here new results concerning the nonlinear mechanism underlying the observed spectral broadening produced by parametric instabilities occurring at the edge of tokamak plasmas in present day LHCD (lower hybrid current drive) experiments. Low frequency (LF) ion-sound evanescent modes (quasi-modes) are the main parametric decay channel which drives a nonlinear mode coupling of lower hybrid (LH) waves. The spectrum of the LF fluctuations is calculated here considering the beating of the launched LH wave at the radiofrequency (RF) operating line frequency (pump wave) with the noisy background of the RF power generator. This spectrum is calculated in the frame of the kinetic theory, following a perturbative approach. Numerical solutions of the nonlinear LH wave equation show the evolution of the nonlinear mode coupling in condition of a finite depletion of the pump power. The role of the presence of heavy ions in a Deuterium plasma in mitigating the nonlinear effects is analyzed.

The primary mission of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is to study the physics of alpha-particle heating in an ignited D-T plasma. A burn time of about 10 /tau//sub E/ is projected in a divertor configuration with baseline machine design parameters of R=2.10 m, 1=0.65 m, b=1.30 m, I/sub p/=11 MA, B/sub T/=10 T and 10-20 MW of auxiliary rf heating. Plasma temperatures and density are expected to reach T/sub e/(O) /approximately/20 keV, T/sub i/(O) /approximately/30 keV, and n/sub e/(O) /approximately/ 1 /times/ 10/sup 21/m/sup /minus/3/. The combined effects of restricted port access to the plasma, the presence of severe neutron and gamma radiation backgrounds, and the necessity for remote of in-cell components create challenging design problems for all of the conventional diagnostic associated with tokamak operations. In addition, new techniques must be developed to diagnose the evolution in space, time, and energy of the confined alpha distribution as well as potential plasma instabilities driven by collective alpha-particle effects. The design effort for CIT diagnostics is presently in the conceptual phase with activity being focused on the selection of a viable diagnostic set and the identification of essential research and development projects to support this process. A review of these design issues and other aspects impacting the selection of diagnostic techniques for the CIT experiment will be presented. 28 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

We report here on a nonlinear mechanism that forms and maintains a self-organized stationary (sawtooth free) state in tokamaks. This process was discovered by way of extensive long-time simulations using the M3D-C1 3D extended MHD code in which new physics diagnostics have been added. It is well known that most high-performance modes of tokamak operation undergo ``sawtooth'' cycles, in which the peaking of the toroidal current density triggers a periodic core instability which redistributes the current density. However, certain modes of operation are known, such as the ``hybrid'' mode in DIII-D, ASDEX-U, JT-60U and JET, and the long-lived modes in NSTX and MAST, which do not experience this cycle of instability. Empirically, it is observed that these modes maintain a non-axisymmetric equilibrium which somehow limits the peaking of the toroidal current density. The physical mechanism responsible for this has not previously been understood, but is often referred to as ``flux-pumping,'' in which poloidal flux is redistributed in order to maintain q0 >1. In this talk, we show that in long-time simulations of inductively driven plasmas, a steady-state magnetic equilibrium may be obtained in which the condition q0 >1 is maintained by a dynamo driven by a stationary marginal core interchange mode. This interchange mode, unstable because of the pressure gradient in the ultra-low shear region in the center region, causes a (1,1) perturbation in both the electrostatic potential and the magnetic field, which nonlinearly cause a (0,0) component in the loop voltage that acts to sustain the configuration. This hybrid mode may be a preferred mode of operation for ITER. We present parameter scans that indicate when this sawtooth-free operation can be expected.

Geometrical effects on linear stability of electrostatic resistive edge modes are investigated in the three-dimensional Wendelstein 7-X stellarator [G. Grieger et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research 1990 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1991), Vol. 3, p. 525] and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor [Progress in the ITER Physics Basis, Nucl. Fusion 7, S1, S285 (2007)]-like equilibria. An advanced fluid model is used for the ions together with the reduced Braghinskii equations for the electrons. Using the ballooning mode representation, the drift wave problem is set as an eigenvalue equation along a field line and is solved numerically using a standard shooting technique. A significantly larger magnetic shear and a less unfavorable normal curvature in the tokamak equilibrium are found to give a stronger finite-Larmor radius stabilization and a more narrow mode spectrum than in the stellarator. The effect of negative global magnetic shear in the tokamak is found to be stabilizing. The growth rate on a tokamak magnetic flux surface is found to be comparable to that on a stellarator surface with the same global magnetic shear but the eigenfunction in the tokamak is broader than in the stellarator due to the presence of large negative local magnetic shear (LMS) on the tokamak surface. A large absolute value of the LMS in a region of unfavorable normal curvature is found to be stabilizing in the stellarator, while in the tokamak case, negative LMS is found to be stabilizing and positive LMS destabilizing.

Geometrical effects on linear stability of electrostatic resistive edge modes are investigated in the three-dimensional Wendelstein 7-X stellarator [G. Grieger et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research 1990 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1991), Vol. 3, p. 525] and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor [Progress in the ITER Physics Basis, Nucl. Fusion 7, S1, S285 (2007)]-like equilibria. An advanced fluid model is used for the ions together with the reduced Braghinskii equations for the electrons. Using the ballooning mode representation, the drift wave problem is set as an eigenvalue equation along a field line and is solved numerically using a standard shooting technique. A significantly larger magnetic shear and a less unfavorable normal curvature in the tokamak equilibrium are found to give a stronger finite-Larmor radius stabilization and a more narrow mode spectrum than in the stellarator. The effect of negative global magnetic shear in the tokamak is found to be stabilizing. The growth rate on a tokamak magnetic flux surface is found to be comparable to that on a stellarator surface with the same global magnetic shear but the eigenfunction in the tokamak is broader than in the stellarator due to the presence of large negative local magnetic shear (LMS) on the tokamak surface. A large absolute value of the LMS in a region of unfavorable normal curvature is found to be stabilizing in the stellarator, while in the tokamak case, negative LMS is found to be stabilizing and positive LMS destabilizing.

Recent experiments in several tokamaks show that applied n=2 fields can lead to disruptive n=1 locked modes at field thresholds similar to those found for n=1 fields. This has important implications for the allowable size of error fields in next-step devices. In order to extrapolate field thresholds to ITER, an error field database (EFDB) is being developed under the OMFIT integrated modeling framework. The initial phase of development involves analysis of the applied 3D field, detection of island onset, characterization of island structure, reconstruction of the plasma equilibrium, determination of measurable plasma parameters at the relevant rational surfaces, and archiving in a dedicated MDSplus tree. The EFDB is both an extension of previous data assembly efforts and a means of documenting the parametric dependencies of error field penetration thresholds for a variety of tokamaks, across different plasma regimes, and for arbitrary applied field configurations. Through analysis of available data, empirical scalings for n=1 and n=2 fields are resolved. The trends are compared to functional dependencies predicted by drift-MHD models. Work supported by the US Department of Energy under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program, DE-FC02-04ER54698 and DE-AC52-07NA27344.

One of the main goals for the DIII-D research program is to establish an advanced tokamak plasma with high bootstrap current fraction that can be sustained in-principle steady-state. Substantial progress has been made in several areas during the last year. The resistive wall mode stabilization has been done with spinning plasmas in which the plasma pressure has been extended well above the no-wall beta limit. The 3/2 neoclassical tearing mode has been stabilized by the injection of ECH into the magnetic islands, which drives current to substitute the missing bootstrap current. In these experiments either the plasma was moved or the toroidal field was changed to overlap the ECCD resonance with the location of the NTMs. Effective disruption mitigation has been obtained by massive noble gas injection into shots where disruptions were deliberately triggered. The massive gas puff causes a fast and clean current quench with essentially all the plasma energy radiated fairly uniformly to the vessel walls. The run-away electrons that are normally seen accompanying disruptions are suppressed by the large density of electrons still bound on the impurity nuclei. Major elements required to establish integrated, long-pulse, advanced tokamak operations have been achieved in DIII-D: {beta}{sub T} = 4.2%, {beta}{sub p} = 2, f{sub BS} = 65%, and {beta}{sub N}H{sub 89} = 10 for 600 ms ({approx} 4{tau}{sub E}). The next challenge is to integrate the different elements, which will be the goal for the next five years when additional control will be available. Twelve resistive wall mode coils are scheduled to be installed in DIII-D during the summer of 2003. The future plans include upgrading the tokamak pulse length capability and increasing the ECH power, to control the current profile evolution.

The use of a variational method permits the Grad -Shafranov (GS) equation to be solved by reducing the problem of solving the 2D non-linear partial differential equation to the problem of minimizing a function of several variables. This high speed algorithm approximately solves the GS equation given a pararmeterization of the plasma boundary and the current profile (p^' and FF^' functions). We treat the current profile parameters as unknowns. The goal is to reconstruct the internal magnetic flux surfaces of a tokamak plasma and the toroidal current density profile from the external magnetic measurements. This is a classic problem of inverse equilibrium determination. The current profile parameters can be evaluated by several different matching procedures. We found that the matching of magnetic flux and field at the probe locations using the Biot-Savart law and magnetic Green's function provides a robust method of magnetic reconstruction. The matching of poloidal magnetic field on the plasma surface provides a unique method of identifying the plasma current profile. However, the power of this method is greatly compromised by the experimental errors of the magnetic signals. The Casing Principle (60) provides a very fast way to evaluate the plasma contribution to the magnetic signals. It has the potential of being a fast matching method. We found that the performance of this method is hindered by the accuracy of the poloidal magnetic field computed from the equilibrium solver. A flux reconstruction package have been implemented which integrates a vacuum field solver using a filament model for the plasma, a multi-layer perceptron neural network as a interface, and the volume integration of plasma current density using Green's functions as a matching method for the current profile parameters. The flux reconstruction package is applied to compare with the ASEQ and EFIT data. The results are promising. Also, we found that some plasmas in the tokamak Alcator C-Mod lie

Externally applied, non-axisymmetric magnetic fields form the basis of several relatively simple and direct methods to control magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a tokamak, and most present and planned tokamaks now include a set of non-axisymmetric control coils for application of fields with low toroidal mode numbers. Non-axisymmetric applied fields are routinely used to compensate small asymmetries ( δB /B ˜10-3 to 10-4 ) of the nominally axisymmetric field, which otherwise can lead to instabilities through braking of plasma rotation and through direct stimulus of tearing modes or kink modes. This compensation may be feedback-controlled, based on the magnetic response of the plasma to the external fields. Non-axisymmetric fields are used for direct magnetic stabilization of the resistive wall mode—a kink instability with a growth rate slow enough that feedback control is practical. Saturated magnetic islands are also manipulated directly with non-axisymmetric fields, in order to unlock them from the wall and spin them to aid stabilization, or position them for suppression by localized current drive. Several recent scientific advances form the foundation of these developments in the control of instabilities. Most fundamental is the understanding that stable kink modes play a crucial role in the coupling of non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma, determining which field configurations couple most strongly, how the coupling depends on plasma conditions, and whether external asymmetries are amplified by the plasma. A major advance for the physics of high-beta plasmas ( β = plasma pressure/magnetic field pressure) has been the understanding that drift-kinetic resonances can stabilize the resistive wall mode at pressures well above the ideal-MHD stability limit, but also that such discharges can be very sensitive to external asymmetries. The common physics of stable kink modes has brought significant unification to the topics of static error fields at low

Externally applied, non-axisymmetric magnetic fields form the basis of several relatively simple and direct methods to control magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a tokamak, and most present and planned tokamaks now include a set of non-axisymmetric control coils for application of fields with low toroidal mode numbers. Non-axisymmetric applied fields are routinely used to compensate small asymmetries (δB/B∼10{sup −3} to 10{sup −4}) of the nominally axisymmetric field, which otherwise can lead to instabilities through braking of plasma rotation and through direct stimulus of tearing modes or kink modes. This compensation may be feedback-controlled, based on the magnetic response of the plasma to the external fields. Non-axisymmetric fields are used for direct magnetic stabilization of the resistive wall mode—a kink instability with a growth rate slow enough that feedback control is practical. Saturated magnetic islands are also manipulated directly with non-axisymmetric fields, in order to unlock them from the wall and spin them to aid stabilization, or position them for suppression by localized current drive. Several recent scientific advances form the foundation of these developments in the control of instabilities. Most fundamental is the understanding that stable kink modes play a crucial role in the coupling of non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma, determining which field configurations couple most strongly, how the coupling depends on plasma conditions, and whether external asymmetries are amplified by the plasma. A major advance for the physics of high-beta plasmas (β = plasma pressure/magnetic field pressure) has been the understanding that drift-kinetic resonances can stabilize the resistive wall mode at pressures well above the ideal-MHD stability limit, but also that such discharges can be very sensitive to external asymmetries. The common physics of stable kink modes has brought significant unification to the topics of static error

A system has been installed to deposit a thin film of elemental boron to the walls of the D3-D tokamak, in order to reduce the influx of impurities during plasma discharges. Subsequently new regimes of substantially tokamak energy confinement were obtained. The deposition of the boron layer is achieved during a glow-discharge session using a helium-diborane age mixture and a film of {approx}100 nm is deposited. The boronization system includes special storage and handling precautions for the diborane, a delivery and metering system for the glow-discharge, modifications to the tokamak's residual gas analyzer system, and a dedicated system for handling and neutralizing the exhaust gas from the tokamak. Tokamak discharges with similar parameters before and after boronization are used to characterize the effects of the boron film. Nickel has been reduced by a factor of 30, while impurities such as oxygen and carbon are reduced fivefold. A system of pulsing the flow discharge has been developed in order to improve the uniformity of the film applied.

Most tokamak devices require one or more breakdown assistance systems, such as particles or ECRH radiation, in order to develop plasma discharges by increasing the probabilities of ionization. In smaller tokamaks filament preionization traditionally primes the start-up, reducing the required amounts of loop voltage and OHT flux consumption. Yet, the latter not only may result obtrusive to the operational access but also its incandescence contributes to raise the plasma impurity levels. A new vertical field profile, superimposed to the stray field component parallel to the equilibrium field, has been created in NOVILLO tokamak by means of two additional compensation poloidal coils. Such arrangement of the vertical field profiles, with an 1/R-dependence, has been found adequate to achieve the plasma breakdown without any preionization system. Furthermore, evidence has been gathered indicating that tokamak discharges achieved by vertical stray field modification instead of preionization allow to operate with higher prefill pressure and therefore to create denser plasmas at standard loop voltage levels. A technique like the one presented here may prove suitable to accomplish dependable discharges on large tokamaks while saving costs considerably. Likewise this technique is feasible to be applied successfully in general toroidal gas breakdown and arcing processes.

The runaway electrons have been measured by hard x-ray detectors and soft x-ray array in the J-TEXT tokamak. The hard x-ray radiations in the energy ranges of 0.5-5 MeV are measured by two NaI detectors. The flux of lost runaway electrons can be obtained routinely. The soft x-ray array diagnostics are used to monitor the runaway beam generated in disruptions since the soft x-ray is dominated by the interaction between runaway electrons and metallic impurities inside the plasma. With the aid of soft x-ray array, runaway electron beam has been detected directly during the formation of runaway current plateau following the disruptions.

The runaway electrons have been measured by hard x-ray detectors and soft x-ray array in the J-TEXT tokamak. The hard x-ray radiations in the energy ranges of 0.5-5 MeV are measured by two NaI detectors. The flux of lost runaway electrons can be obtained routinely. The soft x-ray array diagnostics are used to monitor the runaway beam generated in disruptions since the soft x-ray is dominated by the interaction between runaway electrons and metallic impurities inside the plasma. With the aid of soft x-ray array, runaway electron beam has been detected directly during the formation of runaway current plateau following the disruptions.

The runaway electrons have been measured by hard x-ray detectors and soft x-ray array in the J-TEXT tokamak. The hard x-ray radiations in the energy ranges of 0.5-5 MeV are measured by two NaI detectors. The flux of lost runaway electrons can be obtained routinely. The soft x-ray array diagnostics are used to monitor the runaway beam generated in disruptions since the soft x-ray is dominated by the interaction between runaway electrons and metallic impurities inside the plasma. With the aid of soft x-ray array, runaway electron beam has been detected directly during the formation of runaway current plateau following the disruptions.

Through the non field-aligned rotational tokamak equilibrium of a divergence-free plasma flow with a pair of transformed plasma variables w-vector{sub *}=({mu}{rho}){sup 1/2}{nu}-vector and {mu}p{sub *}=({mu}p+w{sub *}{sup 2}/2)[K. H. Tsui, Phys. Plasmas 18, 072502 (2011)], a preliminary understanding of the L/H equilibrium transition is proposed through a feedback cycle, where the higher plasma flux due to external drives enters the rotational Grad-Shafranov equation through the velocity dependent poloidal plasma {beta} to generate the H equilibrium. This H rotational mode has the characteristics of higher normal electric field and plasma pressure. Coupled to the transport properties of E-vector x B-vector drift transport barrier leading to a higher plasma pressure, this makes the H mode a self-sustained equilibrium. The higher plasma {beta} then feeds back to the equilibrium and completes the feedback loop.

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is a proposed modest-size ignition experiment designed to study the physics of alpha-particle heating. The basic concept is to achieve ignition in a modest-size minimum cost experiment by using a high plasma density to achieve the condition of ntau/sub E/ approx. 2 x 10/sup 20/ sec m/sup -3/ required for ignition. The high density requires a high toroidal field (10 T). The high toroidal field allows a large plasma current (10 MA) which improves the energy confinement, and provides a high level of ohmic heating. The present CIT design also has a gigh degree of elongation (k approx. 1.8) to aid in producing the large plasma current. A double null poloidal divertor and a pellet injector are part of the design to provide impurity and particle control, improve the confinement, and provide flexibility for impurity and particle control, improve the confinement, and provide flexibility for improving the plasma profiles. Since auxiliary heating is expected to be necessary to achieve ignition, 10 to 20 MW of Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF) is to be provided.

This dissertation addresses two related problems in the study of forced magnetic reconnection in Tokamak plasmas. First, a recent controversy concerning a model forced magnetic reconnection problem, the Taylor problem, has been resolved. The criticisms of Ishizawa and Tokuda [21] concerning the original analysis of Hahm and Kulsrud [17] are shown to be unwarranted, both analytically and numerically. Second, one possible reason for the discrepancy between recent experimental [29] and previous theoretical [13] scaling of the critical error-field penetration threshold with device parameters is addressed. The theory in question is entirely based on a single-fluid MHD (magnetohydrodynamical) treatment of the plasma. As is well-known, high temperature plasmas are far better modeled using the drift-MHD ordering.[18] Hence we develop a drift-MHD theory of error-field penetration. Although two new drift-MHD plasma response regimes are identified, the overall threshold scaling with device parameters is not altogether different from that predicted by single-fluid MHD.

Zonal flows (ZFs) in a tokamak plasma with anisotropic pressure are investigated. The dynamics of perpendicular and parallel pressures are determined by the Chew-Goldberger-Low double equations and low-β condition is adopted, where β is the ratio of plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure. The dispersion relation is analytically derived and illustrates two branches of ZFs. The low frequency zonal flow (LFZF) branch becomes unstable when χ, the ratio of the perpendicular pressure to the parallel one, is greater than a threshold value χ{sub c}, which is about 3.8. In the stable region, its frequency increases first and then decreases with increasing χ. For χ = 1, the frequency of LFZF agrees well with the experimental observation. For the instability, the growth rate of LFZF increases with χ. The geodesic acoustic mode branch is shown to be always stable with a frequency increasing with χ. The safety factor is shown to diminish the frequencies of both branches or the growth rate of LFZF.

The following features, in particular, have been examined: (a) large aspect ratio (A approx. = 6), which may ease maintenance; (b) high beta (..beta.. greater than or equal to 0.20) without indentation, which brings the maximum toroidal field down to about 6 to 7 T; (c) low toroidal current (I approx. = 4MA), which reduces the cost of the current drive and equilibrium field system; and (d) steady state operation with current density control via fast and slow wave current drive. The key to high beta operation with low toroidal current lies in utilizing second stability regime equilibria with the required current distributions produced by an appropriate selection of wave driver frequencies and power spectra. The ray tracing and current drive calculation is self-consistent with the actual magnetic fields they produce in the plasma. The impurity control activities in TPSS have emphasized the self-pumping concept as applied to using the entire first wall or ''slot'' limiters. The blanket design effort has emphasized liquid metal and Flibe concepts. The reference concept is a liquid lithium/vanadium, self-cooled configuration. Overall, there exists a number of major design improvements which will substantially improve the attractiveness of tokamak reactors.

The sensitivity of our time-dependent simulations of low confinement (L-mode) discharges to variations in initial profiles and time-dependent boundary conditions has been explored. These time-dependent tokamak plasma simulations were performed using a theory-based Multi-mode transport model that includes ion temperature gradient (ITG) and trapped electron modes (TEM), kinetic and resistive ballooning modes and neoclassical modes. The density and temperature profiles predicted in our simulations of L-mode discharges are found to be robust, even with significant variations in the initial or boundary conditions. Although transport associated with a single mode can be strongly affected by local changes in plasma parameters resulting from changes in the boundary conditions, the total transport remains largely unchanged because of compensation by other transport modes. The sensitivity of the predicted temperature and density profiles to a variation in the Multi-mode model is also examined. When the Dominguez-Waltz theory of transport driven by ITG and TEM modes is replaced in the Multi-mode model by the Weiland description, we find that the predictions of the Weiland model more closely match the experimental data. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

The oxidation of dust and flakes collected from the DIII-D tokamak, and various commercial dust specimens, has been measured at 350 ºC and 2.0 kPa O2 pressure. Following an initial small mass loss, most of the commercial dust specimens showed very little effect due to O2 exposure. Similarly, dust collected from underneath DIII-D tiles, which is thought to comprise largely Grafoil™ particulates, also showed little susceptibility to oxidation at this temperature. However, oxidation of the dust collected from tile surfaces has led to ~ 18% mass loss after 8 hours; thereafter, little change in mass was observed. This suggests that the surface dust includes some components of different composition and/or structure – possibly fragments of codeposited layers. The oxidation of codeposit flakes scraped form DIII-D upper divertor tiles showed an initial 25% loss in mass due to heating in vacuum, and the gradual loss of 30-38% mass during the subsequent 24 hours exposure to O2. This behavior is significantly different from that observed for the oxidation of thinner DIII-D codeposit specimens which were still adhered to tile surfaces, and this is thought to be related to the low deuterium content (D/C ~ 0.03 – 0.04) of the flakes.

Linear and nonlinear kinetic-MHD hybrid simulations have been carried out to investigate linear stability and nonlinear dynamics of beam-driven fishbone instability in spherical tokamak plasmas. Realistic NSTX parameters with finite toroidal rotation were used. Our results show that the fishbone is driven by both trapped and passing particles. The instability drive of passing particles is comparable to that of trapped particles in the linear regime. The effects of rotation are destabilizing and a new region of instability appears at higher q min (>1.5) values, q min being the minimum of safety factor profile. In the nonlinear regime, the mode saturates due to flattening of beam ion distribution, and this persists after initial saturation while mode frequency chirps down in such a way that the resonant trapped particles move out radially and keep in resonance with the mode. Correspondingly, the flattening region of beam ion distribution expands radially outward. Furthermore, a substantial fraction of initially non-resonant trapped particles become resonant around the time of mode saturation and keep in resonance with the mode as frequency chirps down. On the other hand, the fraction of resonant passing particles is significantly smaller than that of trapped particles. Finally, our analysis shows that trapped particles provide the main drive to the mode in the nonlinear regime.

Linear and nonlinear kinetic-MHD hybrid simulations have been carried out to investigate linear stability and nonlinear dynamics of beam-driven fishbone instability in spherical tokamak plasmas. Realistic NSTX parameters with finite toroidal rotation were used. Our results show that the fishbone is driven by both trapped and passing particles. The instability drive of passing particles is comparable to that of trapped particles in the linear regime. The effects of rotation are destabilizing and a new region of instability appears at higher q min (>1.5) values, q min being the minimum of safety factor profile. In the nonlinear regime, the mode saturatesmore » due to flattening of beam ion distribution, and this persists after initial saturation while mode frequency chirps down in such a way that the resonant trapped particles move out radially and keep in resonance with the mode. Correspondingly, the flattening region of beam ion distribution expands radially outward. Furthermore, a substantial fraction of initially non-resonant trapped particles become resonant around the time of mode saturation and keep in resonance with the mode as frequency chirps down. On the other hand, the fraction of resonant passing particles is significantly smaller than that of trapped particles. Finally, our analysis shows that trapped particles provide the main drive to the mode in the nonlinear regime.« less

In this paper we discuss the present divertor design for the planned TPX tokamak, which will explore the physics and technology of steady-state (1000s pulses) heat and particle removal in high confinement (2--4{times} L-mode), high beta ({beta}{sub N} {ge} 3) divertor plasmas sustained by non-inductive current drive. The TPX device will operate in the double-null divertor configuration, with actively cooled graphite targets forming a deep (0.5 m) slot at the outer strike point. The peak heat flux on, the highly tilted (74{degrees} from normal) re-entrant (to recycle ions back toward the separatrix) will be in the range of 4--6 MW/m{sup 2} with 18 MW of neutral beams and RF heating power. The combination of active pumping and gas puffing (deuterium plus impurities), along with higher heating power (45 MW maximum) will allow testing of radiative divertor concepts at ITER-like power densities.

A new {Delta}{prime} shooting code has been developed to investigate tokamak plasma tearing mode stability in a cylinder and large aspect ratio ({epsilon} {le} 0.25) toroidal geometries, neglecting toroidal mode coupling. A different computational algorithm is used (shooting out from the singular surface instead of into it) to resolve the strong singularities at the mode rational surface, particularly in the presence of finite pressure term. Numerical results compare favorably with Furth et al. results. The effects of finite pressure, which are shown to decrease {Delta}{prime}, are discussed. It is shown that the distortion of the flux surfaces by the Shafranov shift, which modifies the geometry metric element stabilizes the tearing mode significantly, even in a low {beta} regime before the toroidal magnetic curvature effects come into play. Double tearing modes in toroidal geometries are examined as well. Furthermore, m {ge} 2 tearing mode stability criteria are compared with three dimensional initial value MHD simulation by the FAR code.

Zonal flows (ZFs) in a tokamak plasma with anisotropic pressure are investigated. The dynamics of perpendicular and parallel pressures are determined by the Chew-Goldberger-Low double equations and low-β condition is adopted, where β is the ratio of plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure. The dispersion relation is analytically derived and illustrates two branches of ZFs. The low frequency zonal flow (LFZF) branch becomes unstable when χ, the ratio of the perpendicular pressure to the parallel one, is greater than a threshold value χc, which is about 3.8. In the stable region, its frequency increases first and then decreases with increasing χ. For χ = 1, the frequency of LFZF agrees well with the experimental observation. For the instability, the growth rate of LFZF increases with χ. The geodesic acoustic mode branch is shown to be always stable with a frequency increasing with χ. The safety factor is shown to diminish the frequencies of both branches or the growth rate of LFZF.

The Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX)* will investigate the low recycling operating regime for magnetically confined plasmas using liquid lithium plasma facing surfaces. The engineering design and machine fabrication process will be presented. The most significant new feature of the LTX machine is the installation of a heated copper toroidal shell that will be operated at 300 C to 500 C. Its stainless steel plasma-facing liner will be internally coated with an evaporated layer of liquid lithium. The shell is comprised of four quadrants that have been fabricated in-house from explosively bonded stainless steel on copper to conform closely to the outer plasma flux surface. All internal components of the LTX machine have been designed and built to meet the simultaneous requirements for liquid lithium compatibility, high temperature operation, and electrical isolation. These requirements have led to unique design features, such as the method of supporting the shell quadrants, and construction of the new internal poloidal field coils. *Supported by US DOE contract #DE-AC02-76CH-03073

Linear and nonlinear kinetic-MHD hybrid simulations have been carried out to investigate linear stability and nonlinear dynamics of beam-driven fishbone instability in spherical tokamak plasmas. Realistic NSTX parameters with finite toroidal rotation were used. The results show that the fishbone is driven by both trapped and passing particles. The instability drive of passing particles is comparable to that of trapped particles in the linear regime. The effects of rotation are destabilizing and a new region of instability appears at higher q min (>1.5) values, q min being the minimum of safety factor profile. In the nonlinear regime, the mode saturates due to flattening of beam ion distribution, and this persists after initial saturation while mode frequency chirps down in such a way that the resonant trapped particles move out radially and keep in resonance with the mode. Correspondingly, the flattening region of beam ion distribution expands radially outward. A substantial fraction of initially non-resonant trapped particles become resonant around the time of mode saturation and keep in resonance with the mode as frequency chirps down. On the other hand, the fraction of resonant passing particles is significantly smaller than that of trapped particles. Our analysis shows that trapped particles provide the main drive to the mode in the nonlinear regime.

``Snakes'' refer to sinusoidal patterns observed on space-time plots of soft-X-ray signals in tokamak plasmas. They are generally attributed to persistent and localized density perturbations that form at a rational surface after pellet injection (Weller, JET 1987), and Parker, Alcator-C 1987), or impurity accumulation (Naujoks, ASDEX 1996, Delgado-Aparicio, C-Mod 2011). It is not clear whether all snake observations have a unique origin. A likely explanation is that material trapped inside an island driven by a temperature hole leads to the observed soft-X-ray signals (Wesson 1995). More recently, it has been suggested that they could be the result of saturated nonlinear internal kinks in low, or reversed-shear geometries (Cooper 2011). We have started an examination of some of these issues using ideas from neoclassical transport theory (Shaing 2007) in conjunction with various magnetohydrodynamic models. In a RMHD model, we demonstrated that excess-density-driven bootstrap current can stabilize a resistive m = 1 island at a small amplitude, leaving a radially and poloidally localized snake-like structure. Extension of this work to more sophisticated models that include diamagnetic effects, and possibly more realistic geometries, will be presented. This research was supported by the Office of Fusion Energy Science of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Atypical Type III ELM is observed on EAST tokamak. This type of ELM has MHD precursor and high collisionality at the edge, and also the threshold power is close to the scaling law. But the frequency of the ELM does not decrease with the injected power. Power threshold is lower with the molybdenum wall in double null (DN) on EAST. Considering the effects of the plasma surface (S) to the threshold power, Double Null has the lowest power threshold. Better energy confinement has been observed in DN compared to Single-null (SN) at same power loss. But with the same power loss, Upper Single Null (USN) with the grad-B drift pointing backwards the active X-point (favorable direction) on EAST has the lower energy confinement time than Lower Single Null (LSN). Low Hybrid Wave (LHW) can mitigate ELMs. The power deposition should be near the edge in the H-mode phase. Not only the LHW decreases the max gradient of the density in the pedestal region, but also brings the density oscillations. Low X-point configurations in Lower single null have a lower power threshold. The low X-point discharges on EAST is closer to the DN. Approaching to the DN configuration should be the reason of the lower power threshold caused by the lower X-point on EAST.

The equilibrium state in tokamak core plasmas has been studied using the relative intensities of resonance x-ray lines, for example Lyα (H-like), "w" (He-like), and "q" (Li-like) from test ions such as Ar+15, Ar+16, and Ar+17. A full spatial analysis involves comparison of the line intensities with ion diffusion calculations, including relevant atomic rates. A zero-dimensional model using a global ion loss rate approximation has also been demonstrated by comparison with the data collected from a Johann configuration spectrometer with a charged coupled device (CCD) detector. Since the lines are nearly monoenergetic, their intensities are independent of the instrument sensitivity and are directly proportional to the ion abundances. This method has recently been applied to Ar in the Oxford electron beam ion trap (EBIT) with a beam energy in the range 3-10 keV. Taking into account the cross sections for monoenergetic electron collisions and polarization effects, model calculations agree with the observed line ratios at 4.1 keV beam energy. This work will be expanded to provide nomograms of ionization state versus line intensity ratios as a function of EBIT beam energy.

First results are reported on the prediction of disruptions in one tokamak, based on neural networks trained on another tokamak. The studies use data from the JET and ASDEX Upgrade devices, with a neural network trained on just seven normalized plasma parameters. In this way, a simple single layer perceptron network trained solely on JET correctly anticipated 67% of disruptions on ASDEX Upgrade in advance of 0.01 s before the disruption. The converse test led to a 69% success rate in advance of 0.04 s before the disruption in JET. Only one overall time scaling parameter is allowed between the devices, which can be introduced from theoretical arguments. Disruption prediction performance based on such networks trained and tested on the same device shows even higher success rates (JET, 86%; ASDEX Upgrade, 90%), despite the small number of inputs used and simplicity of the network. It is found that while performance for networks trained and tested on the same device can be improved with more complex networks and many adjustable weights, for cross-machine testing the best approach is a simple single layer perceptron. This offers the basis of a potentially useful technique for large future devices such as ITER, which with further development might help to reduce disruption frequency and minimize the need for a large disruption campaign to train disruption avoidance systems.

Frequency modulation reflectometer has been developed to measure the plasma density profile of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak. Three reflectometers are operating in extraordinary polarization mode in the frequency range of Q band (33.6-54 GHz), V band (48-72 GHz), and W band (72-108 GHz) to measure the density up to 7 × 1019 m-3 when the toroidal magnetic field is 2 T on axis. The antenna is installed inside of the vacuum vessel. A new vacuum window is developed by using 50 μm thick mica film and 0.1 mm thick gold gasket. The filter bank of low pass filter, notch filter, and Faraday isolator is used to reject the electron cyclotron heating high power at attenuation of 60 dB. The full frequency band is swept in 20 μs. The mixer output is directly digitized with sampling rate of 100 MSamples/s. The phase is obtained by using wavelet transform. The whole hardware and software system is described in detail and the measured density profile is presented as a result.

A potentially attractive next-step towards fusion commercialization is a pilot plant, i.e. a device ultimately capable of small net electricity production in as compact a facility as possible and in a configuration scalable to a full-size power plant. A key capability for a pilot-plant programme is the production of high neutron fluence enabling fusion nuclear science and technology (FNST) research. It is found that for physics and technology assumptions between those assumed for ITER and nth-of-a-kind fusion power plant, it is possible to provide FNST-relevant neutron wall loading in pilot devices. Thus, it may be possible to utilize a single facility to perform FNST research utilizing reactor-relevant plasma, blanket, coil and auxiliary systems and maintenance schemes while also targeting net electricity production. In this paper three configurations for a pilot plant are considered: the advanced tokamak, spherical tokamak and compact stellarator. A range of configuration issues is considered including: radial build and blanket design, magnet systems, maintenance schemes, tritium consumption and self-sufficiency, physics scenarios and a brief assessment of research needs for the configurations.

Frequency modulation reflectometer has been developed to measure the plasma density profile of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak. Three reflectometers are operating in extraordinary polarization mode in the frequency range of Q band (33.6-54 GHz), V band (48-72 GHz), and W band (72-108 GHz) to measure the density up to 7 × 10(19) m(-3) when the toroidal magnetic field is 2 T on axis. The antenna is installed inside of the vacuum vessel. A new vacuum window is developed by using 50 μm thick mica film and 0.1 mm thick gold gasket. The filter bank of low pass filter, notch filter, and Faraday isolator is used to reject the electron cyclotron heating high power at attenuation of 60 dB. The full frequency band is swept in 20 μs. The mixer output is directly digitized with sampling rate of 100 MSamples/s. The phase is obtained by using wavelet transform. The whole hardware and software system is described in detail and the measured density profile is presented as a result.

"Advanced tokamak" (AT) scenarios were developed with the aim of reaching steady-state operation in future potential tokamak fusion power plants. AT scenarios exhibit non-monotonic to flat safety factor profiles (q, a measure of the magnetic field line pitch), with the minimum q (qmin) slightly above an integer value (qs). However, it has been predicted that these q profiles are unstable to ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities as qmin approaches qs. These ideal instabilities, observed and diagnosed as such for the first time in MAST plasmas with AT-like q profiles, have far-reaching consequences like confinement degradation, flattening of the toroidal core rotation or enhanced fast ion losses. These observations motivate the stability analysis of advanced-tokamak plasmas, with a view to provide guidance for stability thresholds in AT scenarios. Additionally, the measured rotation damping is compared to the self-consistently calculated predictions from neoclassical toroidal viscosity theory.

The threshold for stochastic transport of high energy trapped particles in a tokamak due to toroidal field ripple is calculated by explicit construction of primary resonances, and a numerical examination of the route to chaos. Critical field ripple amplitude is determined for loss. The expression is given in magnetic coordinates and makes no assumptions regarding shape or up-down symmetry. An algorithm is developed including the effects of prompt axisymmetic orbit loss, ripple trapping, convective banana flow, and stochastic ripple loss, which gives accurate ripple loss predictions for representative Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor [R. Hawryluk, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 33, 1509 (1991)] and International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor [K. Tomabechi, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1989), Vol. 3, p. 214] equilibria. The algorithm is extended to include the effects of collisions and drag, allowing rapid estimation of alpha particle loss in tokamaks.

The prospects for the low-aspect-ratio (A) tokamak to fulfill the requirements of viable fusion power plants are considered relative to the present status in data and modeling. Desirable physics and design features for an attractive Blanket Test Facility and power reactors are estimated for low-A tokamaks based on calculations improved with the latest data from small pioneering experiments. While these experiments have confirmed some of the recent predictions for low-A, they also identify the remaining issues that require verification before reliable projections can be made for these deuterium-tritium applications. The results show that the low-A regime of small size, modest field, and high current offers a path complementary to the standard and high A tokamaks in developing the full potential of fusion power.

The structure of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes has always been an interesting study in tokamaks. The mode number of tokamak plasma is the most important parameter, which plays a vital role in MHD instabilities. If it could be predicted, then the time of exerting external fields, such as feedback fields and Resonance Helical Field, could be obtained. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average are useful models to predict stochastic processes. In this paper, we suggest using ARIMA model to forecast mode number. The ARIMA model shows correct mode number (m = 4) about 0.5 ms in IR-T1 tokamak and equations of Mirnov coil fluctuations are obtained. It is found that the recursive estimates of the ARIMA model parameters change as the plasma mode changes. A discriminator function has been proposed to determine plasma mode based on the recursive estimates of model parameters.

A hybrid method for tokamak MHD equilibrium configuration reconstruction is proposed and employed in the modified EFIT code. This method uses the free boundary tokamak equilibrium configuration reconstruction algorithm with one boundary point fixed. The results show that the position of the fixed point has explicit effects on the reconstructed divertor configurations. In particular, the separatrix of the reconstructed divertor configuration precisely passes the required position when the hybrid method is used in the reconstruction. The profiles of plasma parameters such as pressure and safety factor for reconstructed HL-2A tokamak configurations with the hybrid and the free boundary methods are compared. The possibility for applications of the method to swing the separatrix strike point on the divertor target plate is discussed.

The research performed under this grant during the past year has been concentrated on the following several key tokamak ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies) coupling, heating and current drive issues: Efficient coupling during the L- to H- mode transition by analysis and computer simulation of ICRF antennas; analysis of ICRF cavity-backed coil antenna coupling to plasma edge profiles including fast and ion Bernstein wave coupling for heating and current drive; benchmarking the codes to compare with current JET, D-IIID and ASDEX experimental results and predictions for advanced tokamaks such as BPX and SSAT (Steady-State Advanced Tokamak); ICRF full-wave field solutions, power conservation, heating analyses and minority ion current drive; and the effects of fusion alpha particle or ion tail populations on the ICRF absorption. Research progress, publications, and conference and workshop presentations are summarized in this report.

This progress report covers the period from November 1, 1990 to April 30, 1993. During that period, TEXT was operated as a circular tokamak with a material limiter. It was devoted to the study of basic plasma physics, in particular to study of fluctuations, turbulence, and transport. The purpose is to operate and maintain TEXT Upgrade as a complete facility for applied tokamak physics, specifically to conduct a research program under the following main headings: (1) to elucidate the mechanisms of working gas, impurity, and thermal transport in tokamaks, in particular to understand the role of turbulence; (2) to study physics of the edge plasma, in particular the turbulence; (3) to study the physics or resonant magnetic fields (ergodic magnetic divertors, intra island pumping); and (4) to study the physics of electron cyclotron heating (ECRH). Results of studies in each of these areas are reported.

This paper presents a method for obtaining the locations and currents of the poloidal coil systems for a tokamak, given an desirable magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium for the device. The method involves a simultaneous minimization of the match to the desired poloidal field and the stored energy in the coils, subject to the constraints necessary to achieve decoupling of the equilibrium and inductive-current-drive (ohmic-heating) systems and to achieve a given coupling of the current-drive system with the plasma. A compendium of mutual and self-inductance formulas as they apply to tokamak systems is presented, as well as examples of how the method has been used in the design of several tokamaks. Finally, a user manual for a computer code that implements this method is provided. 14 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab.

In ohmic divertor plasma discharges of the ASDEX upgrade tokamak containing a small population of runaway electrons, fluctuating emission in the microwave region with a very narrow bandwidth is observed. The radiation can be explained by relativistic runaway electrons, which are captured in a ripple resonance of the tokamak and are thus made monoenergetic enough that they can undergo the collective instability of a free-electron maser. From the frequency of the maser, the energy of the runaway electrons, and from the linewidth and energy per radiation pulse, the particle density of the runaway electrons is determined locally. Observing this maser radiation is thus a different diagnostic for runaway electrons in tokamaks. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

The stability and bifurcations of multiple limit cycles for the physical model of thermonuclear reaction in Tokamak are investigated in this paper. The one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau type perturbed diffusion equations for the density of the plasma and the radial electric field near the plasma edge in Tokamak are established. First, the equations are transformed to the average equations with the method of multiple scales and the average equations turn to be a Z2-symmetric perturbed polynomial Hamiltonian system of degree 5. Then, with the bifurcations theory and method of detection function, the qualitative behavior of the unperturbed system and the number of the limit cycles of the perturbed system for certain groups of parameter are analyzed. At last, the stability of the limit cycles is studied and the physical meaning of Tokamak equations under these parameter groups is given. PMID:24892099

The stability and bifurcations of multiple limit cycles for the physical model of thermonuclear reaction in Tokamak are investigated in this paper. The one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau type perturbed diffusion equations for the density of the plasma and the radial electric field near the plasma edge in Tokamak are established. First, the equations are transformed to the average equations with the method of multiple scales and the average equations turn to be a Z 2-symmetric perturbed polynomial Hamiltonian system of degree 5. Then, with the bifurcations theory and method of detection function, the qualitative behavior of the unperturbed system and the number of the limit cycles of the perturbed system for certain groups of parameter are analyzed. At last, the stability of the limit cycles is studied and the physical meaning of Tokamak equations under these parameter groups is given.

The surface of amorphous films deposited in the T-10 tokamak was studied in a scanning tunnel microscope. The surface relief on a scale from 10 nm to 100 {mu}m showed a stochastic surface topography and revealed a hierarchy of grains. The observed variety of irregular structures of the films was studied within the framework of the concept of scale invariance using the methods of fractal geometry and statistical physics. The experimental probability density distribution functions of the surface height variations are close in shape to the Cauchy distribution. The stochastic surface topography of the films is characterized by a Hurst parameter of H = 0.68-0.85, which is evidence of a nontrivial self-similarity of the film structure. The fractal character and porous structure of deposited irregular films must be considered as an important issue related to the accumulation of tritium in the ITER project. The process of film growth on the surface of tokamak components exposed to plasma has been treated within the framework of the general concept of inhomogeneous surface growth. A strong turbulence of the edge plasma in tokamaks can give rise to fluctuations in the incident flux of particles, which leads to the growth of fractal films with grain dimensions ranging from nano-to micrometer scale. The shape of the surface of some films found in the T-10 tokamak has been interpreted using a model of diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA). The growth of films according to the discrete DLA model was simulated using statistics of fluctuations observed in a turbulent edge plasma of the T-10 tokamak. The modified DLA model reproduces well the main features of the surface of some films deposited in tokamaks.

A new resonant-cavity ICRF coupler is proposed for large tokamaks. The design features a novel resonant cavity, an rf magnetic-field orientation that effectively radiates fast Alfven waves, matching to 40 ..cap omega.. transmission lines, and an electric-field orientation so that the strongest rf electric fields are orthogonal to the main toroidal magnetic field thereby benefitting from magnetic insulation. As a result, the power handling capability is excellent. For the case of the Big-Dee Doublet III tokamak, a single 35 cm x 50 cm coupler can launch 20 MW of fast Alfven waves. Extrapolation to fusion reactor parameters is straightforward.

One of the important rotational resonances in nonaxisymmetric neoclassical transport has been experimentally validated in the KSTAR tokamak by applying highly nonresonant n=1 magnetic perturbations to rapidly rotating plasmas. These so-called bounce-harmonic resonances are expected to occur in the presence of magnetic braking perturbations when the toroidal rotation is fast enough to resonate with periodic parallel motions of trapped particles. The predicted and observed resonant peak along with the toroidal rotation implies that the toroidal rotation in tokamaks can be controlled naturally in favorable conditions to stability, using nonaxisymmetric magnetic perturbations.

The DIII-D Tokamak Long Range Plan for controlled thermonuclear magnetic fusion research will be carried out with broad national and international participation. The plan covers: (1) operation of the DIII-D tokamak to conduct research experiments to address needs of the US Magnetic Fusion Program; (2) facility modifications to allow these new experiments to be conducted; and (3) collaborations with other laboratories to integrate DIII-D research into the national and international fusion programs. The period covered by this plan is 1 November 19983 through 31 October 1998.

This paper presents a midsize tokamak as a fast track to the investigation of burning plasmas. It is shown that it could reach large values of energy gain (≥10) with only a modest improvement in confinement over the scaling that was used for designing the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). This could be achieved by operating in a low plasma recycling regime that experiments indicate can lead to improved plasma confinement. The possibility of reaching the necessary conditions of low recycling using a more efficient magnetic divertor than those of present tokamaks is discussed.

By combining previous results of Betti and Freidberg [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 2949 (1995)] and Eriksson [Phys. Plasmas 2, 3095 (1995)], a fully analytical description is obtained for the stabilizing effect of toroidal plasma rotation in a large aspect ratio tokamak surrounded by a resistive wall. As in advanced tokamak configurations with a large fraction of bootstrap current, it is assumed that the current gradient near the plasma edge is large. This assumption enables an analytical analysis of external kink modes with low poloidal mode numbers. An expression is obtained, showing explicitly how the window of stable wall distances depends on the current profile.

Second regions of stability to the ideal ballooning modes have been shown to exist in large-aspect-ratio circular and small-aspect-ratio bean-shaped tokamaks. We report on the existence of these second stability regions in finite-aspect-ratio dee-shaped tokamaks. We also report on the discovery of a second-stable region with respect to the n = 1 external kink mode in a bean-shaped plasma. The role of the shear and current profile in determining these regions of parameter space are discussed. 13 refs., 6 figs.

Readily demountable TF (toroidal-field) coils allow complete access to the internal components of a tokamak reactor for maintenance of replacement. The requirement of readily demountable joints dictates the use of water-cooled resistive coils, which have a host of decisive advantages over superconducting coils. Previous papers have shown that resistive TF coils for tokamak reactors can operate in the steady state with acceptable power dissipation (typically, 175 to 300 MW). This paper summarizes results of parametric studies of size optimization of rectangular TF coils and of a finite-element stress analysis, and examines several candidate methods of implementing demountable joints for rectangular coils constructed of plate segments.

The spherical tokamak (ST) provides a unique environment in which to perform complementary and exacting tests of the tokamak physics required for a burning plasma experiment of any aspect ratio, while also having the potential for long-term fusion applications in its own right. New experiments are coming on-line in the UK (MAST), USA (NSTX, Pegasus), Russia (Globus-M), Brazil (ETE) and elsewhere, and the status of these devices will be reported, along with newly-analysed data from START. Those physics issues where the ST provides an opportunity to remove degeneracy in the databases or clarify one s understanding will be emphasized.

It is shown that when tokamaks are perturbed the kinetic energy principle is closely related to the neoclassical toroidal torque by the action invariance of particles. Especially when tokamaks are perturbed from scalar pressure equilibria, the imaginary part of the potential energy in the kinetic energy principle is equivalent to the toroidal torque by the Neoclassical Toroidal Viscosity (NTV). A unified description therefore should be made for both physics. It is also shown in this case that the potential energy operator can be self-adjoint and thus the stability calculation can be simplified by minimizing the potential energy

The authors discuss unstructured grids for application to transport in the tokamak edge SOL. They have developed a new metric with which to judge element elongation and resolution requirements. Using this method, the authors apply a standard moving finite element technique to advance the SOL equations while inserting/deleting dynamically nodes that violate an elongation criterion. In a tokamak plasma, this method achieves a more uniform accuracy, and results in highly stretched triangular finite elements, except near separatrix X-point where transport is more isotropic.

In this study, massive runaway positrons are generated by runaway electrons in tokamaks. The fate of these positrons encodes valuable information about the runaway dynamics. The phase space dynamics of a runaway position is investigated using a Lagrangian that incorporates the tokamak geometry, loop voltage, radiation and collisional effects. It is found numerically that runaway positrons will drift out of the plasma to annihilate on the first wall, with an in-plasma annihilation possibility less than 0.1%. The dynamics of runaway positrons provides signatures that can be observed as diagnostic tools.

ECE imaging (electron cyclotron emission imaging) is an important diagnostic which can give 2D imaging of temperature fluctuation in the core of tokamak. A method based on ECE imaging is introduced which can give the information of the position of magnetic axis and the structure of internal magnetic surface for EAST tokamak. The EFIT equilibrium reconstruction is not reliable due to the absence of important core diagnostic at the initial phase for EAST, so the information given by ECE imaging could help to improve the accuracy of EFIT equilibrium reconstruction.

The Tokamak Ignition/Burn Experimental Research (TIBER) device is the smallest superconductivity tokamak designed to date. In the design plasma shaping is used to achieve a high plasma beta. Neutron shielding is minimized to achieve the desired small device size, but the superconducting magnets must be shielded sufficiently to reduce the neutron heat load and the gamma-ray dose to various components of the device. Specifications of the plasma-shaping coil, the shielding, coaling, requirements, and heating modes are given. 61 refs., 92 figs., 30 tabs. (WRF)

High-energy fusion-product losses from an axisymmetric tokamak plasma are studied. Prompt-escape loss fluxes (i.e. prior to slowing down) are calculated including the non-separable dependence of flux as a function of poloidal angle and local angle-of-incidence at the first wall. Fusion-product (fp) thermalization and heating are calculated assuming classical slowing down. The present analytical model describes fast ion orbits and their distribution function in realistic, high-..beta.., non-circular tokamak equilibria. First-orbit losses, trapping effects, and slowing-down drifts are also treated.

The use of a variational method permits the Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation to be solved by reducing the problem of solving the two dimensional nonlinear partial differential equation to the problem of minimizing a function of several variables. This high speed algorithm approximately solves the GS equation given a parameterization of the plasma boundary and the current profile (p' and FF' functions). The current profile parameters are treated as unknowns. The goal is to reconstruct the internal magnetic flux surfaces of a tokamak plasma and the toroidal current density profile from the external magnetic measurements. This is a classic problem of inverse equilibrium determination. The current profile parameters can be evaluated by several different matching procedures. Matching of magnetic flux and field at the probe locations using the Biot-Savart law and magnetic Green's function provides a robust method of magnetic reconstruction. The matching of poloidal magnetic field on the plasma surface provides a unique method of identifying the plasma current profile. However, the power of this method is greatly compromised by the experimental errors of the magnetic signals. The Casing principle provides a very fast way to evaluate the plasma contribution to the magnetic signals. It has the potential of being a fast matching method. The performance of this method is hindered by the accuracy of the poloidal magnetic field computed from the equilibrium solver. A flux reconstruction package has been implemented which integrates a vacuum field solver using a filament model for the plasma, a multilayer perception neural network as an interface, and the volume integration of plasma current density using Green's functions as a matching method for the current profile parameters. The flux reconstruction package is applied to compare with the ASEQ and EFIT data.

The use of a variational method permits the Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation to be solved by reducing the problem of solving the 2D non-linear partial differential equation to the problem of minimizing a function of several variables. This high speed algorithm approximately solves the GS equation given a parameterization of the plasma boundary and the current profile (p` and FF` functions). The author treats the current profile parameters as unknowns. The goal is to reconstruct the internal magnetic flux surfaces of a tokamak plasma and the toroidal current density profile from the external magnetic measurements. This is a classic problem of inverse equilibrium determination. The current profile parameters can be evaluated by several different matching procedures. Matching of magnetic flux and field at the probe locations using the Biot-Savart law and magnetic Green`s function provides a robust method of magnetic reconstruction. The matching of poloidal magnetic field on the plasma surface provides a unique method of identifying the plasma current profile. However, the power of this method is greatly compromised by the experimental errors of the magnetic signals. The Casing Principle provides a very fast way to evaluate the plasma contribution to the magnetic signals. It has the potential of being a fast matching method. The performance of this method is hindered by the accuracy of the poloidal magnetic field computed from the equilibrium solver. A flux reconstruction package has been implemented which integrates a vacuum field solver using a filament model for the plasma, a multi-layer perception neural network as an interface, and the volume integration of plasma current density using Green`s functions as a matching method for the current profile parameters. The flux reconstruction package is applied to compare with the ASEQ and EFIT data. The results are promising.

The plasma edge interaction in FTU tokamak is monitored by wide angle videocameras. Data are acquired as movies or single frames at a rate of 50 frames/s. The images show interesting features of the plasma such as the presence of Marfes or runaways and give useful information on the status of large parts of the vacuum vessel and toroidal limiter. Due to the large number of data available visual inspection of the movies is often insufficient to correlate the images to the experimental findings. This article illustrates a number of applications developed in order to correlate the images with plasma signals and to search the image database for specific features relevant to the discharge.

We describe an improvement of the neutron activation system in operation on the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) tokamak for the measurement of the total neutron yield. A HPGe well-type detector (200 cm{sup 3} active volume) is used to detect the photoemission from neutron activated samples ({sup 115m}In336.2 keV {gamma} rays from DD neutrons on indium for FTU). Due to their high geometrical efficiency, HPGe well-type detectors are particularly suited to the FTU low-level activity measurements. A particular effort has been devoted to the calibration of the measuring system. In particular, a multi-{gamma} calibration source (59{endash}1332 keV energy range) with a density of 7.31 g/cm{sup 3} consisting of a stack of indium foils has been prepared. This assures that the shape and volume of the calibration source are the same as those of the samples used in the actual measurements. The full-energy-peak efficiency at the {sup 115m}In336.2 keV line is 0.197 with an overall uncertainty of 2{percent} (1{sigma}). For a better characterization of the detector response as a function of the sample density, a further calibration source with the same geometry has been prepared in a gel aqueous solution (density {approximately}1 g/cm{sup 3}). The calibration curves for the well-type detector at the two different density values are compared. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

The density in a large tokamak such as International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), or any of the proposed future US machines, can be determined by measuring the Faraday rotation of a 10.6 μm laser directed tangent to the toroidal field. If there is a horizontal array of such beams, then ne(R) can be readily obtained with a simple Abel inversion about the center line of the tokamak. For a large machine, operated at a full field of 30 T m and a density of 2×1020/m3, the rotation angle would be quite large-about 60° for two passes. A layout in which a single laser beam is fanned out in the horizontal midplane of the tokamak, with a set of retroreflectors on the far side of the vacuum vessel, would provide good spatial resolution, depending only upon the number of reflectors. With this proposed layout, only one window would be needed. Because the rotation angle is never more than 1 ``fringe,'' the data is always good, and it is also a continuous measurement in time. Faraday rotation is dependent only upon the plasma itself, and thus is not sensitive to vibration of the optical components. Simulations of the expected results show that ITER, or any large tokamak, existing or proposed, would be well served even at low densities by a midplane Faraday rotation densitometer of ˜64 channels.

A gamma ray camera is built for the DIII-D tokamak [J. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] that provides spatial localization and energy resolution of gamma flux by combining a lead pinhole camera with custom-built detectors and optimized viewing geometry. This diagnostic system is installed on the outer midplane of the tokamak such that its 123 collimated sightlines extend across the tokamak radius while also covering most of the vertical extent of the plasma volume. A set of 30 bismuth germanate detectors can be secured in any of the available sightlines, allowing for customizable coverage in experiments with runaway electrons in the energy range of 1-60 MeV. Commissioning of the gamma ray imager includes the quantification of electromagnetic noise sources in the tokamak machine hall and a measurement of the energy spectrum of background gamma radiation. First measurements of gamma rays coming from the plasma provide a suitable testbed for implementing pulse height analysis that provides the energy of detected gamma photons.

Stable high-beta plasmas are required for the tokamak to attain an economical fusion reactor. Recently, intense neutral beam heating experiments in tokamaks have shown new effects on plasma stability and confinement associated with high beta plasmas. The observed spectrum of MHD fluctuations at high beta is clearly dominated by the n = 1 mode when the q = 1 surface is in the plasma. The m/n = 1/1 mode drives other n = 1 modes through toroidal coupling and n > 1 modes through nonlinear coupling. On PDX, with near perpendicular injection, a resonant interaction between the n = 1 internal kink and the trapped fast ions results in loss of beam particles and heating power. Key parameters in the theory are the value of q/sub 0/ and the injection angle. High frequency broadband magnetic fluctuations have been observed on ISX-B and D-III and a correlation with the deterioration of plasma confinement was reported. During enhanced confinement (H-mode) discharges in divertor plasmas, two new edge instabilities were observed, both localized radially near the separatrix. By assembling results from the different tokamak experiments, it is found that the simple theoretical ideal MHD beta limit has not been exceeded. Whether this represents an ultimate tokamak limit or if beta optimized configurations (Dee- or bean-shaped plasmas) can exceed this limit and perhaps enter a second regime of stability remains to be clarified.

This paper reviews the application of high-frequency microwave radiation to plasma heating near the electron-cyclotron frequency in tokamaks and stellarators. Successful plasma heating by microwave power has been demonstrated in numerous experiments. Predicted future technological developments and current theoretical understanding suggest that a vigorous program in plasma heating will continue to yield promising results.

The diagnostics for TPX are at an early design phase, with emphasis on the diagnostic access interface with the major tokamak components. Account has to be taken of the very severe environment for diagnostic components located inside the vacuum vessel. The placement of subcontracts for the design and fabrication of the diagnostic systems is in process.

The present status of experimental results from low aspect ratio tokamaks is described, together with plans for physics experiments at the mega-amp level. Further development of the concept, and its potential for a materials/component test facility or ultimately a fusion power plant, are indicated.

The variational principle derived by Choe and Freidberg [Phys. Fluids 29, 1766 (1986)] and used to estimate the geometry of high-beta tokamak equilibria is extended to include elongation. Ballooning mode stability is then investigated, illustrating the influence of elongation on local and global stability.

From the Princeton University Archives: Promotional video about the Plasma Physics Lab and the new Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), with footage of the interior, machines, and scientists at work. This film is discussed in the audiovisual blog of the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, which holds the archives of Princeton University.

The error field diagnostics based on magnetic measurements outside the plasma is discussed. The analysed methods rely on measuring the plasma dynamic response to the finite-amplitude external magnetic perturbations, which are the error fields and the pre-programmed probing pulses. Such pulses can be created by the coils designed for static error field correction and for stabilization of the resistive wall modes, the technique developed and applied in several tokamaks, including DIII-D and JET. Here analysis is based on the theory predictions for the resonant field amplification (RFA). To achieve the desired level of the error field correction in tokamaks, the diagnostics must be sensitive to signals of several Gauss. Therefore, part of the measurements should be performed near the plasma stability boundary, where the RFA effect is stronger. While the proximity to the marginal stability is important, the absolute values of plasma parameters are not. This means that the necessary measurements can be done in the diagnostic discharges with parameters below the nominal operating regimes, with the stability boundary intentionally lowered. The estimates for ITER are presented. The discussed diagnostics can be tested in dedicated experiments in existing tokamaks. The diagnostics can be considered as an extension of the 'active MHD spectroscopy' used recently in the DIII-D tokamak and the EXTRAP T2R reversed field pinch.

An intensive, year-long, international evaluation of the next major tokamak beyond the generation of large experiments currently under construction was carried out during 1979. This evaluation consisted of the definition of objectives, an assessment of the physics and technology base and R and D needs and the identification of a set of parameters that physically characterize the machine.

A compact neutron spectrometer based on the liquid scintillator is presented for neutron energy spectrum measurements at the HL-2A Tokamak. The spectrometer was well characterized and a fast digital pulse shape discrimination software was developed using the charge comparison method. A digitizer data acquisition system with a maximum frequency of 1 MHz can work under an environment with a high count rate at HL-2A Tokamak. Specific radiation and magnetic shielding for the spectrometer were designed for the neutron spectrum measurement at the HL-2A Tokamak. For pulse height spectrum analysis, dedicated numerical simulation utilizing NUBEAM combined with GENESIS was performed to obtain the neutron energy spectrum. Subsequently, the transportation process from the plasma to the detector was evaluated with Monte Carlo calculations. The distorted neutron energy spectrum was folded with the response matrix of the liquid scintillation spectrometer, and good consistency was found between the simulated and measured pulse height spectra. This neutron spectrometer based on a digital acquisition system could be well adopted for the investigation of the auxiliary heating behavior and the fast-ion related phenomenon on different tokamak devices.

A gamma ray camera is built for the DIII-D tokamak [J. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] that provides spatial localization and energy resolution of gamma flux by combining a lead pinhole camera with custom-built detectors and optimized viewing geometry. This diagnostic system is installed on the outer midplane of the tokamak such that its 123 collimated sightlines extend across the tokamak radius while also covering most of the vertical extent of the plasma volume. A set of 30 bismuth germanate detectors can be secured in any of the available sightlines, allowing for customizable coverage in experiments with runaway electrons in the energy range of 1-60 MeV. Commissioning of the gamma ray imager includes the quantification of electromagnetic noise sources in the tokamak machine hall and a measurement of the energy spectrum of background gamma radiation. First measurements of gamma rays coming from the plasma provide a suitable testbed for implementing pulse height analysis that provides the energy of detected gamma photons.

The implications of the formation of a positive slope in the runaway electron tail in tokamak plasmas are investigated in regard to the radiation in the vicinity of the electron plasma frequency. In particular, it is shown that the amplification of extraordinary mode waves may result.

The LIDAR Thomson Scattering for Advanced Tokamaks project made a valuable contribution by combining LLNL expertise from the MFE Program: tokamak design and diagnostics, and the ICF Program and Physics Dept.: short-pulse lasers and fast streak cameras. This multidisciplinary group evaluated issues involved in achieving a factor of 20 higher high spatial resolution (to as small as 2-3 mm) from the present state of the art in LIDAR Thomson scattering, and developed conceptual designs to apply LIDAR Thomson scattering to three tokamaks: Upgraded divertor measurements in the existing DIII-D tokamak; Both core and divertor LIDAR Thomson scattering in the proposed (now cancelled) TPX; and core, edge, and divertor LIDAR Thomson scattering on the presently planned International Tokamak Experimental Reactor, ITER. Other issues were evaluated in addition to the time response required for a few millimeter spatial resolution. These include the optimum wavelength, 100 Hz operation of the laser and detectors, minimizing stray light - always the Achilles heel of Thomson scattering, and time dispersion in optics that could prevent good spatial resolution. Innovative features of our work included: custom short pulsed laser concepts to meet specific requirements, use of a prism spectrometer to maintain a constant optical path length for high temporal and spatial resolution, the concept of a laser focus outside the plasma to ionize gas and form an external fiducial to use in locating the plasma edge as well as to spread the laser energy over a large enough area of the inner wall to avoid laser ablation of wall material, an improved concept for cleaning windows between shots by means of laser ablation, and the identification of a new physics issue - nonlinear effects near a laser focus which could perturb the plasma density and temperature that are to be measured.

Using a partial differential equation for the time evolution of the mean-field poloidal magnetic flux that incorporates resistivity {eta} and hyper-resistivity {Lambda} terms, an exact analytic solution is obtained for steady-state coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in force-free large aspect ratio tokamaks. The analytic mean-field Ohm's law model allows for calculation of the tokamak CHI current drive efficiency and the plasma inductances at arbitrary levels of magnetic fluctuations, or dynamo activity. The results of the mean-field model suggest that CHI approaching Ohmic efficiency is only possible in tokamaks when the size of the effective current drive boundary layer, {delta}{identical_to}({Lambda}/{eta}){sup 1/2}, becomes greater than half the size of the plasma, {delta}>a/2, with a the plasma minor radius. The electron thermal diffusivity due to magnetic fluctuation induced transport is obtained from the expression {chi}{sub e}={Lambda}/{mu}{sub 0}d{sub e}{sup 2}, with {mu}{sub 0} the permeability of free space and d{sub e} the electron skin depth, which for typical tokamak fusion plasma parameters is on the order of a millimeter. Thus, the ratio of the energy confinement time to the resistive diffusion time in a tokamak plasma driven by steady-state CHI approaching Ohmic efficiency is shown to be constrained by the relation {tau}{sub E}/{tau}{sub {eta}}

The march towards electricity production through tokamaks requires the construction of new facilities and the inevitable replacement of the previous generation. There are, however, research topics that are better suited to the existing tokamaks, areas of great potential that are not sufficiently mature for implementation in high power machines, and these provide strong support for a balanced policy that includes the redirection of existing programs. Spin polarized fusion, in which the nuclei of tokamak fuel particles are spin-aligned and favorably change both the fusion cross-section and the distribution of initial velocity vectors of charged fusion products, is described here asmore » an example of a technological and physics topic that is ripe for development in a machine such as the DIII-D tokamak. In this study, such research and development experiments may not be efficient at the ITER-scale, while the plasma performance, diagnostic access, and collaborative personnel available within the United States’ magnetic fusion research program, and at the DIII-D facility in particular, provide a unique opportunity to further fusion progress.« less

The march towards electricity production through tokamaks requires the construction of new facilities and the inevitable replacement of the previous generation. There are, however, research topics that are better suited to the existing tokamaks, areas of great potential that are not sufficiently mature for implementation in high power machines, and these provide strong support for a balanced policy that includes the redirection of existing programs. Spin polarized fusion, in which the nuclei of tokamak fuel particles are spin-aligned and favorably change both the fusion cross-section and the distribution of initial velocity vectors of charged fusion products, is described here as an example of a technological and physics topic that is ripe for development in a machine such as the DIII-D tokamak. In this study, such research and development experiments may not be efficient at the ITER-scale, while the plasma performance, diagnostic access, and collaborative personnel available within the United States’ magnetic fusion research program, and at the DIII-D facility in particular, provide a unique opportunity to further fusion progress.

Axisymmetric equilibrium reconstruction using magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solutions to the Grad Shafranov equation has long been an important tool for interpreting tokamak experiments. This paper describes recent results in non-axisymmetric (three-dimensional) equilibrium reconstruction of nominally axisymmetric plasmas (tokamaks and reversed field pinches (RFPs)), and fully non-axisymmetric plasmas (stellarators). Results from applying the V3FIT code to CTH and HSX stellarator plasmas, RFX-mod RFP plasmas and the DIII-D tokamak are presented.

The tokamak radiation shielding includes the neutron and gamma shielding around the torus and penetrations required to (1) limit activation of components outside the shield to levels that permit hands-on maintenance and (2) limit the nuclear heating of the superconducting coils and cold structure. The primary design drivers are space, the 350{degree}C bakeout temperature, and cost; therefore, different shield materials were used for different shield components and locations. The shielding is divided into three areas: (1) torus shielding around the vacuum vessel, (2) duct shielding around the vacuum pumping ducts and vertical diagnostic ducts, and (3) penetration shielding in and around the radial ports. The major shield components include water between the walls of the vacuum vessel, lead monosilicate/boron carbide tiles that are attached to the exterior of the vacuum vessel, shield plugs that rill the openings of the large radial ports, and polyethylene/lead/boron shield blocks for duct shielding. A description of the shielding configuration and the performance and operational requirements will be discussed.

The tokamak radiation shielding includes the neutron and gamma shielding around the torus and penetrations required to (1) limit activation of components outside the shield to levels that permit hands-on maintenance, and (2) limit the nuclear heating of the superconducting coils and cold structure. The primary design drivers are space, the 350 C bakeout temperature, and cost; therefore, different shield materials were used for different shield components and locations. The shielding is divided into three areas: (1) torus shielding around the vacuum vessel, (2) duct shielding around the vacuum pumping ducts and vertical diagnostic ducts, and (3) penetration shielding in and around the radial ports. The major shield components include water between the walls of the vacuum vessel, lead monosilicate/boron carbide tiles that are attached to the exterior of the vacuum vessel, shield plugs that fill the openings of the large radial ports, and polyethylene/lead/boron shield blocks for duct shielding. A description of the shielding configuration and the performance and operational requirements are discussed.

Advanced tokamak performance has been demonstrated in the DIII-D tokamak in a series of experiments which brought together developments in technology and improved understanding of the physical principles underlying tokamak operation. The achievement of greatly improved confinement coupled with development of new systems for real time plasma control have permitted investigation of the heretofore hidden or poorly controlled variables which together determine global confinement. These experiments, which included work in transport and control of the plasma boundary, point toward development of operationally and economically attractive reactors based on the tokamak. Some of these experiments are described.

The impact of plasma shaping on tokamak scrape-off layer (SOL) turbulence is investigated. The drift-reduced Braginskii equations are written for arbitrary magnetic geometries, and an analytical equilibrium model is used to introduce the dependence of turbulence equations on tokamak inverse aspect ratio (ε ), Shafranov’s shift (Δ), elongation (κ), and triangularity (δ). A linear study of plasma shaping effects on the growth rate of resistive ballooning modes (RBMs) and resistive drift waves (RDWs) reveals that RBMs are strongly stabilized by elongation and negative triangularity, while RDWs are only slightly stabilized in non-circular magnetic geometries. Assuming that the linear instabilities saturate due to nonlinear local flattening of the plasma gradient, the equilibrium gradient pressure length {L}p=-{p}e/{{\

The NSTAB and TRAN computer codes have been developed to study equilibrium, stability, and transport in fusion plasmas with three-dimensional (3D) geometry. The numerical method that is applied calculates islands in tokamaks like the Doublet III-D at General Atomic and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. When bifurcated 3D solutions are used in Monte Carlo computations of the energy confinement time, a realistic simulation of transport is obtained. The significance of finding many 3D magnetohydrodynamic equilibria in axially symmetric tokamaks needs attention because their cumulative effect may contribute to the prompt loss of α particles or to crashes and disruptions that are observed. The 3D theory predicts good performance for stellarators. PMID:17159158

The NSTAB equilibrium and stability code and the TRAN Monte Carlo transport code furnish a simple but effective numerical simulation of essential features of present tokamak and stellarator experiments. When the mesh size is comparable to the island width, an accurate radial difference scheme in conservation form captures magnetic islands successfully despite a nested surface hypothesis imposed by the mathematics. Three-dimensional asymmetries in bifurcated numerical solutions of the axially symmetric tokamak problem are relevant to the observation of unstable neoclassical tearing modes and edge localized modes in experiments. Islands in compact stellarators with quasiaxial symmetry are easier to control, so these configurations will become good candidates for magnetic fusion if difficulties with safety and stability are encountered in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.

In tokamaks, an advanced plasma confinement regime has been investigated with a central hollow electric current with negative density which gives rise to non-nested magnetic surfaces. We present analytical solutions for the magnetohydrodynamic equilibria of this regime in terms of non-orthogonal toroidal polar coordinates. These solutions are obtained for large aspect ratio tokamaks and they are valid for any kind of reversed hollow current density profiles. The zero order solution of the poloidal magnetic flux function describes nested toroidal magnetic surfaces with a magnetic axis displaced due to the toroidal geometry. The first order correction introduces a poloidal field asymmetry and, consequently, magnetic islands arise around the zero order surface with null poloidal magnetic flux gradient. An analytic expression for the magnetic island width is deduced in terms of the equilibrium parameters. We give examples of the equilibrium plasma profiles and islands obtained for a class of current density profile.

The NSTAB equilibrium and stability code and the TRAN Monte Carlo transport code furnish a simple but effective numerical simulation of essential features of present tokamak and stellarator experiments. When the mesh size is comparable to the island width, an accurate radial difference scheme in conservation form captures magnetic islands successfully despite a nested surface hypothesis imposed by the mathematics. Three-dimensional asymmetries in bifurcated numerical solutions of the axially symmetric tokamak problem are relevant to the observation of unstable neoclassical tearing modes and edge localized modes in experiments. Islands in compact stellarators with quasiaxial symmetry are easier to control, so these configurations will become good candidates for magnetic fusion if difficulties with safety and stability are encountered in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. PMID:18768807

A dynamical analysis applied to a reduced resistive magnetohydrodynamics model is shown to explain the chronology of the nonlinear destabilization of modes observed in tokamak sawteeth. A special emphasis is put on the nonlinear self-consistent perturbation of the axisymmetric m = n = 0 mode that manifests through the q-profile evolution. For the very low fusion-relevant resistivity values, the q-profile is shown to remain almost unchanged on the early nonlinear timescale within the central tokamak region, which supports a partial reconnection scenario. Within the resistive region, indications for a local flattening or even a local reversed-shear of the q-profile are given. The impact of this ingredient in the occurrence of the sawtooth crash is discussed.

To measure the electron temperature and plasma density profiles on the Experimento Tokamak Esférico tokamak a multiplexed Thomson scattering diagnostic was implemented. The diagnostic is based on a 10 J ruby laser and a single five spectral channel filter polychromator. A collection lens with f/6.3 relay the scattered light from 23 spatial points to optical fibers. The fibers have a monotonous increasing length and are inserted into the polychromator. Between the collection lens and each fiber optic we have a microlens to match the numerical aperture and to enlarge the plasma observation volume. This work describes the project, the simulations, and the preliminary results obtained with the first four optical fibers.

The use of neural network algorithms for predicting minor and major disruptions in tokamaks is explored by analysing disruption data from the TEXT tokamak with two network architectures. Future values of the fluctuating magnetic signal are predicted based on L past values of the magnetic fluctuation signal measured by a single Mirnov coil. The time step used (=0.04 ms) corresponds to the experimental data sampling rate. Two kinds of approach are adopted for the network: the contiguous future prediction and the multi-time-scale prediction. Both networks are trained through the back-propagation algorithm with inertial terms and the strengths of the results are compared. The use of additional diamagnetic signals as a method of increasing the performance is suggested. The degree of success indicates that the magnetic fluctuations associated with the TEXT disruption data may be characterized by a low dimensional dynamical system

The tokamak plasma flows induced by the local radio frequency (RF) forces in the core region are analyzed. The effective components of local RF forces are composed of the momentum absorption term and the resonant parallel momentum transport term (i.e. the parallel component of the resonant ponderomotive forces). Different momentum balance relations are employed to calculate the plasma flows depending on different assumptions of momentum transport. With the RF fields solved from RF simulation codes, the toroidal and poloidal flows by these forces under the lower hybrid current drive and the mode conversion ion cyclotron resonance heating on EAST-like plasmas are evaluated. supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11405218, 11325524, 11375235 and 11261140327), in part by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China (Nos. 2013GB111002, 2013GB112001 and 2013GB112010), and the Program of Fusion Reactor Physics and Digital Tokamak with the CAS “One-Three-Five” Strategic Planning

A time-dependent zero-dimensional code has been developed to assess the pulse length and auxiliary heating requirements of Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) designs. By taking a global approach to the calculation, parametric studies can be easily performed. The accuracy of the procedure is tested by comparing with the Tokamak Simulation Code which uses theory-based thermal diffusivities. A series of runs is carried out at various levels of energy confinement for each of three possible CIT configurations. It is found that for cases of interest, ignition or an energy multiplication factor Q /approx gt/ 7 can be attained within the first half of the planned five-second flattop with 10--40 MW of auxiliary heating. These results are supported by analytic calculations. 18 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

The free-boundary equilibrium code VEQ provides equilibrium data that are used by the Tokamak Simulation Code (TSC) in design and analysis of the poloidal field (PF) system for the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT). VEQ serves as an important design tool for locating the PF coils and defining coil current trajectories and control systems for TSC. In this report, VEQ and its role in the TSC analysis of the CIT PF system are described. Equilibrium and coil current calculations are discussed, an overview of the CIT PF system is presented, a set of reference equilibria for modeling a complete discharge in CIT is described, and the concept of a plasma shape control matrix is introduced. 9 refs., 8 figs., 7 tabs.

In this article we present the design of a phase contrast imaging (PCI) system on the HL-2A tokamak. This diagnostic is developed to infer line integrated plasma density fluctuations by measuring the phase shift of an expanded CO2 laser beam passing through magnetically confined high temperature plasmas. This system is designed to diagnose plasma density fluctuations with the maximum wavenumber of 66 cm-1. The designed wavenumber resolution is 2.09cm-1, and the time resolution is higher than 0.2 μs. The broad kρs ranging from 0.34 to 13.37 makes it suitable for turbulence measurement. An upgraded PCI system is also discussed, which is designed for the HL-2M tokamak. Supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Energy Research Project (Grant No. 2015GB120002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11375053, 11105144, 10905057, 11535013).

During plasma disruptions in a tokamak fusion reactor, eddy currents are induced in the limiters and other conducting structures surrounding the plasma. Interactions between these currents with the toroidal field causes deflection and stress in the structural components. The structural motion in the strong magnetic field induces additional eddy current opposing the initial eddy current and modifying subsequent structural dynamics. Therefore, the motion and current are coupled and must be solved simultaneously. The coupling between current and deflection in cantilevered beams was investigated experimentally. The beams provide a simple model for the limiter blade of a tokamak fusion reactor. Several test pieces and various magnetic field conditions were employed to study the extend of the coupling effect from weak to strong coupling. Experimental results are compared with analytical predictions.

The general magnetic equilibrium of the ``full'' geometry is implemented in the global gyrokinetic turbulence code GEM. A mapping between the experimental coordinate (R , Z) and the simulation coordinate (r , θ) is calculated directly from the EQDSK file generated by the EFIT analysis. Tokamak edge simulations are carried out with general geometry. At the edge, the general magnetic equilibria differ significantly from that parametrized by the Miller equilibrium, and this difference has quantitative effects on the linear instabilities of the kinetic peeling ballooning mode and the kinetic ballooning mode found in our previous studies. The growth rates are quite sensitive to the magnetic equilibrium, especially with the Miller quantities of elongation and triangularity. Additionally, the calculation of the safety factor has great uncertainty near the separatrix, and this uncertainty may have important effects on tokamak stability.

The effect of the toroidal flow on the equilibrium of tokamak plasmas is a sensitive point for high performance plasma and its precise control. In this paper the effect is studied numerically using the EFIT (Equilibrium Fitting) code on EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak). Firstly, the numerical calculation exhibits a clear outward shift of pressure contour from the magnetic surfaces in the plasma core and the shift grows with the increase of the toroidal velocity. The peak shift of 8% is observed when the ratio between the plasma velocity and the Alfvén speed equals to 0.15. Secondly, it is shown that the magnetic surfaces shift outwards from those without flow. With a certain plasma current the safety factor on the magnetic axis decreases as the plasma flow velocity increases. The magnetic shear increases about 10% on the plasma boundary compared with the case without flow.

Reconstruction of the magnetic topology and current density profile from external magnetic diagnostics is vital to the study of tokamak plasmas. It has long been suspected that external magnetic measurements may contain information about the current density near the edge of a shaped plasma. To better reconstruct this feature, the sensitivity of the reconstruction to uncertainty in magnetic measurements must be determined. This is done by analyzing existing DIII-D data for the effect of measurement uncertainty on the edge current density and the location of the separatrix. The new magnetic uncertainty matrix recently added to EFIT provides a basis for this numerical analysis, and these calculations are compared with simple analytical models. This study begins with examination of measurement error in the tokamak with no plasma, and continues to the more complicated plasma scenario. The relative importance of the various measurements can be determined, with the divertor X-point likely to be the most sensitive to the edge current density.

Tokamaks provide a field structure that is almost axisymmetric around the torus axis. There are however always small toroidal variations due to the limited number of toroidal field coils, the magnetic field ripple. On the other hand, non-axisymmetric external fields are applied on purpose to ergodise the field structure close to the separatrix, to control the heat and particle transport across the plasma boundary. We present a perturbation method to calculate the magnetic field of tokamak discharges with with weak toroidal variation. The method is applied for the equilibrium reconstruction of Tore Supra discharges with toroidal ripple. The perturbation method does not rely on a flux surface representation and can therefore be applied to structures with magnetic islands. We obtain the plasma response to the field of ergodising external coils, as proposed for the ITER device.

The experiments on recording molecular emission in the edge plasma of the T-10 tokamak are described. To obtain reliable spectra with sufficient spectral, temporal, and spatial resolution, the optical circuit is optimized for various experimental conditions. Typical spectra measured in two sections of the tokamak are shown. It is shown that, upon varying the parameters of the discharge, the molecular spectrum not only changes significantly in intensity but also undergoes a qualitative change in the rotational and vibrational structure. For a detailed analysis, we use the Fulcher-α system (d{sup 3}Π{sub u}–a{sup 3}Σ{sub g}{sup +}) of deuterium in the wavelength range from 590 to 640 nm. The rotational temperatures of ground state X{sup 1}Σ{sub g}{sup +} and upper excited state d{sup 3}Π{sub u} are estimated by the measured spectra.

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT), located at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, will be the next major experimental machine in the US Fusion Program. Its use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel requires the use of remote handling technology to carry out maintenance operations on the machine. These operations consist of removing and repairing such components as diagnostic equipment modules by using remotely operated maintenance equipment. The major equipment being developed for maintenance external to the vacuum vessel includes both bridge-mounted and floor-mounted manipulator systems. Additionally, decontamination (decon) equipment, hot cell repair facilities, and equipment for handling and packaging solid radioactive waste (rad-waste) are being developed. Recent design activities have focused on establishing maintenance system interfaces with the facility design, developing manipulator system requirements, and using mock-ups to support the tokamak configuration design. 3 refs., 8 figs.

Collisionless microtearing modes have recently been found linearly unstable in sharp temperature gradient regions of large aspect ratio tokamaks. The magnetic drift resonance of passing electrons has been found to be sufficient to destabilise these modes above a threshold plasma β. A global gyrokinetic study, including both passing electrons as well as trapped electrons, shows that the non-adiabatic contribution of the trapped electrons provides a resonant destabilization, especially at large toroidal mode numbers, for a given aspect ratio. The global 2D mode structures show important changes to the destabilising electrostatic potential. The β threshold for the onset of the instability is found to be generally downshifted by the inclusion of trapped electrons. A scan in the aspect ratio of the tokamak configuration, from medium to large but finite values, clearly indicates a significant destabilizing contribution from trapped electrons at small aspect ratio, with a diminishing role at larger aspect ratios.

In this contribution, long runaway electron (RE) dominated discharges achieved in the COMPASS tokamak are presented. The extensive length is possible due to a low consumption of available volt-seconds of the tokamak transformer in this type of discharge. Energetic electron losses in this regime seems to be modulated mainly by small oscillations of a radial position (controller setting) unlike in the RE discharges at higher electron density, where various MHD phenomena affect the evolution of the losses. The behaviour of the slide-away plasma is studied using magnetic coils, HXR detectors, ECE system and a pair of 3He proportional counters of neutrons. The plasma scenario is also modelled using Fokker-Planck codes. EUROfusion WP MST1, MST2.

A general geometry gyro-kinetic model for particle simulation of plasma turbulence in tokamak experiments is described. It incorporates the comprehensive influence of noncircular cross section, realistic plasma profiles, plasma rotation, neoclassical (equilibrium) electric fields, and Coulomb collisions. An interesting result of global turbulence development in a shaped tokamak plasma is presented with regard to nonlinear turbulence spreading into the linearly stable region. The mutual interaction between turbulence and zonal flows in collisionless plasmas is studied with a focus on identifying possible nonlinear saturation mechanisms for zonal flows. A bursting temporal behavior with a period longer than the geodesic acoustic oscillation period is observed even in a collisionless system. Our simulation results suggest that the zonal flows can drive turbulence. However, this process is too weak to be an effective zonal flow saturation mechanism.

In the linear collisionless limit, a zonal potential perturbation in a toroidal plasma relaxes, in general, to a non-zero residual value. Expressions for the residual value in tokamak and stellarator geometries, and for arbitrary wavelengths, are derived. These expressions involve averages over the lowest order particle trajectories, that typically cannot be evaluated analytically. In this work, an efficient numerical method for the evaluation of such expressions is reported. It is shown that this method is faster than direct gyrokinetic simulations performed with the Gene and EUTERPE codes. Calculations of the residual value in stellarators are provided for much shorter wavelengths than previously available in the literature. Electrons must be treated kinetically in stellarators because, unlike in tokamaks, kinetic electrons modify the residual value even at long wavelengths. This effect, that had already been predicted theoretically, is confirmed by gyrokinetic simulations.

It is shown that the radial transport of fusion-born energetic [alpha] particles, induced by electrostatic waves traveling in one poloidal direction, is directly connected to a net momentum of [alpha] particles in the toroidal direction in tokamaks. Because the momentum change is almost independent of toroidal velocity, the energy required for the momentum generation remains small on an [alpha]-particle population sustained by an isotropic time-independent source. By numerical toroidal Monte Carlo calculations it is shown that the current carried by [alpha] particles in the presence of intense well penetrated waves can reach several mega-amperes in reactor-sized tokamaks. The current obtained can greatly exceed the neoclassical bootstrap current of the [alpha] particles.

The resonant excitations of high-n magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities by the energetic ions/alpha particles in tokamaks are theoretically analyzed. Here, n is the toroidal mode number. Since, typically, the MHD modes consist of two-scale structures; one singular ( inertial'') region and one regular (ideal) region, the energetic particle contributions in the singular region are suppressed by the finite-size orbits. Analytical dispersion relations can then be derived via the asymptotic matching analysis. The dispersion relations have the generic form of the fishbone'' dispersion relation and demonstrate, in particular, the existence of two types of modes; that is, the MHD gap mode and the energetic-particle continuum mode. Specific expressions are given for both the kinetic ballooning modes (KBM) and the toroidal Alfven modes (TAM). It is suggested that the stability property may be qualitatively regarded as the hybrid'' of conventional MHD tokamaks and field reversed ion rings. [copyright]American Institute of Physics

The replacement of the metal centre-post in spherical tokamaks (STs) by a plasma centre-post (PCP, the TF current carrier) is the ideal scenario for a ST reactor. A simple rodless ultra low aspect-ratio tokamak (RULART) using a screw-pinch PCP ECR-assisted with an external solenoid has been proposed in the most compact RULART [Ribeiro C, SOFE-15]. There the solenoid provided the stabilizing field for the PCP and the toroidal electrical field for the tokamak start-up, which will stabilize further the PCP, acting as stabilizing closed conducting surface. Relative low TF will be required. The compactness (high ratio of plasma-spherical vessel volume) may provide passive stabilization and easier access to L-H mode transition. It is presented here: 1) stability analysis of the PCP (initially MHD stable due to the hollow J profile); 2) tokamak equilibrium simulations, and 3) potential use for aneutronic reactions studies via pairs of proton p and boron 11B ion beams in He plasmas. The beams' line-of-sights sufficiently miss the sources of each other, thus allowing a near maximum relative velocities and reactivity. The reactions should occur close to the PCP mid-plane. Some born alphas should cross the PCP and be dragged by the ion flow (higher momentum exchange) towards the anode but escape directly to a direct electricity converter. Others will reach evenly the vessel directly or via thermal diffusion (favourable heating by the large excursion 2a), leading to the lowest power wall load possible. This might be a potential hybrid direct-steam cycle conversion reactor scheme, nearly aneutronic, and with no ash or particle retention problems, as opposed to the D-T thermal reaction proposals.

Based on statistical thermodynamic fluctuation arguments, it is shown here for the first time that thermally excited spin-flip laser emission from the fusion product protons can occur in large tokamak devices that are entering the reactor regime of operation. Existing experimental data from TFTR supports this conjecture, in the sense that these measurements are in complete agreement with the predictions of the quasilinear theory of the spin-flip laser.

The effect of momentum injection on the temperature gradient in tokamak plasmas is studied. A plausible scenario for transitions to reduced transport regimes is proposed. The transition happens when there is sufficient momentum input so that the velocity shear can suppress or reduce the turbulence. However, it is possible to drive too much velocity shear and rekindle the turbulent transport. The optimal level of momentum injection is determined. The reduction in transport is maximized in the regions of low or zero magnetic shear.

The Braginskii viscous stress tensor formalism was generalized to accommodate non-axisymmetric 3D magnetic fields in general toroidal flux surface geometry in order to provide a representation for the viscous damping of toroidal rotation in tokamaks arising from various “neoclassical toroidal viscosity” mechanisms. In the process, it was verified that the parallel viscosity contribution to damping toroidal angular momentum still vanishes even in the presence of toroidal asymmetries, unless there are 3D radial magnetic fields.

In this paper plasma mode analyzed with statistical method that designated Autocorrelation function. Auto correlation function used from one time series, so for this purpose we need one Minov coil. After autocorrelation analysis on mirnov coil data, spectral density diagram is plotted. Spectral density diagram from symmetries and trends can analyzed plasma mode. RHF fields effects with this method ate investigated in IR-T1 tokamak and results corresponded with multichannel methods such as SVD and FFT.

Startup of a 0.1 MA tokamak plasma is demonstrated on the ultralow aspect ratio Pegasus Toroidal Experiment using three localized, high-current density sources mounted near the outboard midplane. The injected open field current relaxes via helicity-conserving magnetic turbulence into a tokamaklike magnetic topology where the maximum sustained plasma current is determined by helicity balance and the requirements for magnetic relaxation.

The effects of a small, externally imposed, nonaxisymmetric magnetic field perturbation on magnetic islands are studied analytically, assuming zero {beta}, tokamak ordering, and narrow islands. For the tearing stable case, the conditions under which the self-consistent plasma response is self-healing or amplifying are elucidated. For the tearing unstable case, the quasilinear theory of tearing modes is extended to a description of locked modes. 16 refs., 12 figs.

A multi-field sandpile model of tokamak plasmas is formulated for the first time to simulate the dynamic process with interaction between avalanche events on the fast/micro time-scale and diffusive transports on the slow/macro time-scale. The main characteristics of the model are that both particle and energy avalanches of sand grains are taken into account simultaneously. New redistribution rules of a sand-relaxing process are defined according to the transport properties of special turbulence which allows the uphill particle transport. Applying the model, we first simulate the steady-state plasma profile self-sustained by drift wave turbulences in the Ohmic discharge of a tokamak. A scaling law as f = a q0 b + c for the relation of both center-density n ( 0 ) and electron (ion) temperatures T e ( 0 ) ( T i ( 0 ) ) with the center-safety-factor q 0 is found. Then interesting work about the nonlocal transport phenomenon observed in tokamak experiments proceeds. It is found that the core electron temperature increases rapidly in response to the edge cold pulse and inversely it decreases in response to the edge heat pulse. The results show that the nonlocal response of core electron temperature depending on the amplitudes of background plasma density and temperature is more remarkable in a range of gas injection rate. Analyses indicate that the avalanche transport caused by plasma drift instabilities with thresholds is a possible physical mechanism for the nonlocal transport in tokamaks. It is believed that the model is capable of being applied to more extensive questions occurring in the transport field.

Most numerical simulations of the tokamak scrapeoff layer use a mapping to flux coordinates and a piecewise equidistributed grid in those coordinates to resolve the multiple length scales and anisotropy characteristic of this problem. We have developed an alternative numerical method using simple cylindrical coordinates with a complex adaptive grid scheme. It is based on an understructured grid of traingles which move adaptively, aligning themselves with the magnetic field and concentrating in regions of sharp gradients.

Spontaneous generation of toroidal flux is observed in a reversed-field pinch device operated as an ultra-low-{ital q} tokamak with a safety factor on axis of 1/4. An initial toroidal bias field of 150 G is increased to 600 G on axis in 300 {mu}sec while the field at the wall is held nearly constant. Sawteeth are observed, which indicate cyclic magnetic reconnection.

The effect of momentum injection on the temperature gradient in tokamak plasmas is studied. A plausible scenario for transitions to reduced transport regimes is proposed. The transition happens when there is sufficient momentum input so that the velocity shear can suppress or reduce the turbulence. However, it is possible to drive too much velocity shear and rekindle the turbulent transport. The optimal level of momentum injection is determined. The reduction in transport is maximized in the regions of low or zero magnetic shear.

The Heavy Neutral Beam Probe (HNBP) developed initially with DOE funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was installed on the Tokamak de Varennes (TdeV) at the CCFM. This diagnostic was designed to perform fundamental measurements of edge plasma properties. The hardware was capable of measuring electron density and potential profiles with high spatial and temporal resolution. Fluctuation spectra for these parameters were obtained with HNBP for transport studies.

The optimum scheme for geometric phase measurement in EAST Tokamak is proposed in this paper. The theoretical values of geometric phase for the probe beams of EAST Polarimeter-Interferometer (POINT) system are calculated by path integration in parameter space. Meanwhile, the influences of some controllable parameters on geometric phase are evaluated. The feasibility and challenge of distinguishing geometric effect in the POINT signal are also assessed in detail.

The ARIES research program is a multi-institutional effort to develop several visions of tokamak reactors with enhanced economic, safety, and environmental features. The aims are to determine the potential economics, safety, and environmental features of a range of possible tokamak reactors, and to identify physics and technology areas with the highest leverage for achieving the best tokamak reactor. Four ARIES visions are currently planned for the ARIES program. The ARIES-1 design is a DT-burning reactor based on modest'' extrapolations from the present tokamak physics database and relies on either existing technology or technology for which trends are already in place, often in programs outside fusion. ARIES-2 and ARIES-4 are DT-burning reactors which will employ potential advances in physics. The ARIES-2 and ARIES-4 designs employ the same plasma core but have two distinct fusion power core designs; ARIES-2 utilize the lithium as the coolant and breeder and vanadium alloys as the structural material while ARIES-4 utilizes helium is the coolant, solid tritium breeders, and SiC composite as the structural material. Lastly, the ARIES-3 is a conceptual D-{sup 3}He reactor. During the period Dec. 1, 1990 to Nov. 31, 1991, most of the ARIES activity has been directed toward completing the technical work for the ARIES-3 design and documenting the results and findings. We have also completed the documentation for the ARIES-1 design and presented the results in various meetings and conferences. During the last quarter, we have initiated the scoping phase for ARIES-2 and ARIES-4 designs.

The hot-ion-mode of operation [1] has long been thought to offer optimized performance for long-pulse or steady-state magnetic fusion power plants. This concept was revived in recent years when theoretical considerations suggested that nonthermal fusion alpha particles could be made to channel their power density preferentially to the fuel ions [2,3]. This so-called anomalous alpha particle slowing down can create plasmas with fuel ion temperate T{sub i} somewhat larger than the electron temperature T{sub e}, which puts more of the beta-limited plasma pressure into the useful fuel species (rather than non-reacting electrons). As we show here, this perceived benefit may be negligible or nonexistent for tokamaks with steady state current drive. It has likewise been argued [2,3] that alpha channeling could be arranged such that little or no external power would be needed to generate the steady state toroidal current. Under optimistic assumptions we show that such alpha-channeling current drive would moderately improve the economic performance of a first stability tokamak like ARIES-I [4], however a reversed-shear (advanced equilibrium) tokamak would likely not benefit since traditional radio-wave (rf) electron-heating current drive power would already be quite small.

Nonlinear MHD modeling of MST tokamak plasmas with an applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) reveals degradation of flux surfaces that may account for the experimentally observed suppression of runaway electrons with the RMP. Runaway electrons are routinely generated in MST tokamak discharges with low plasma density. When an m = 3 RMP is applied these electrons are strongly suppressed, while an m = 1 RMP of comparable amplitude has little effect. The computations are performed using the NIMROD code and use reconstructed equilibrium states of MST tokamak plasmas with q (0) < 1 and q (a) = 2.2 . Linear computations show that the (1 , 1) -kink and (2 , 2) -tearing modes are unstable, and nonlinear simulations produce sawtoothing with a period of approximately 0.5 ms, which is comparable to the period of MHD activity observed experimentally. Adding an m = 3 RMP in the computation degrades flux surfaces in the outer region of the plasma, while no degradation occurs with an m = 1 RMP. The outer flux surface degradation with the m = 3 RMP, combined with the sawtooth-induced distortion of flux surfaces in the core, may account for the observed suppression of runaway electrons. Work supported by DOE Grant DE-FC02-08ER54975.

If quasi-axisymmetry is preserved, non-axisymmetric shaping can be used to design tokamaks that do not require current drive, are resilient to disruptions, and have robust plasma stability without feedback. Suggestions for addressing the critical issues of tokamaks can only be validated when presented with sufficient specificity that validating experiments can be designed. The purpose of this paper is provide that specificity for non-axisymmetric shaping. To our knowledge, no other suggestions for the solution of a number of tokamak issues, such as disruptions, have reached this level of specificity. Sequences of three-field-period quasi-axisymmetric plasmas are studied. These sequences address the questions: (1) What can be achieved at various levels of non-axisymmetric shaping? (2) What simplifications to the coils can be achieved by going to a larger aspect ratio? (3) What range of shaping can be achieved in a single experimental facility? The sequences of plasmas found in this study provide a set of interesting and potentially important configurations.

The preconceptual design of a commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (THR) power plant has been performed. The tokamak fusion driver for this hybrid is operated in the ignition mode. The D-T fusion plasma, which produces 1140 MW of power, has a major radius of 5.4 m and a minor radius of 1.0 m with an elongation of 2.0. Double null poloidal divertors are assumed for impurity control. The confining toroidal field is maintained by D-shaped Nb/sub 3/Sn superconducting magnets with a maximum field of 12T at the coil. Three blankets with four associated fuel cycle alternatives have been combined with the ignited tokamak fusion driver. The engineering, material, and balance of plant design requirements for the THR are briefly described. Estimates of the capital, operating and maintenance, and fuel cycle costs have been made for the various driver/blanket combinations and an assessment of the market penetrability of hybrid systems is presented. An analysis has been made of the nonproliferation aspects of the hybrid and its associated fuel cycles relative to fission reactors. The current and required level of technology for both the fusion and fission components of the hybrid system has been reviewed. Licensing hybrid systems is also considered.

Tokamak turbulence, driven by the ion-temperature gradient and occurring in the presence of flow shear, is investigated by means of local, ion-scale, electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations (with both kinetic ions and electrons) of the conditions in the outer core of the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). A parameter scan in the local values of the ion-temperature gradient and flow shear is performed. It is demonstrated that the experimentally observed state is near the stability threshold and that this stability threshold is nonlinear: sheared turbulence is subcritical, i.e. the system is formally stable to small perturbations, but, given a large enough initial perturbation, it transitions to a turbulent state. A scenario for such a transition is proposed and supported by numerical results: close to threshold, the nonlinear saturated state and the associated anomalous heat transport are dominated by long-lived coherent structures, which drift across the domain, have finite amplitudes, but are not volume filling; as the system is taken away from the threshold into the more unstable regime, the number of these structures increases until they overlap and a more conventional chaotic state emerges. Whereas this appears to represent a new scenario for transition to turbulence in tokamak plasmas, it is reminiscent of the behaviour of other subcritically turbulent systems, e.g. pipe flows and Keplerian magnetorotational accretion flows.

The ability to model and predict the behavior of stellarators and tokamaks requires an ability to match simulation parameters with experimental measurements. This process, known as experimental reconstruction, has been used extensively with 2D axisymmetric codes for Tokamaks. These codes, such as EFIT, lack the ability to model the 3D nature of stellarators and the emerging 3D nature of Tokamaks. Phenomena such as, shielding of islands by neoclassical flows and the suppression of edge localized modes through application of 3D fields, highlight the need for such 3D tools. The stellarator optimizer code STELLOPT has been modified to match 3D VMEC equilibria to experimental measurements. This has allowed 3D experimental reconstructions to be preformed on W7-AS, LHD, and DIII-D devices. The free boundary VMEC equilibria are matched to Thomson profiles (ne and Te), charge exchange measurements (Ti), MSE (polarization angle), and magnetic diagnostics (B-probes, flux loops, Rogowski coils). Three dimensional reconstructed equilibria are presented alongside confidence metrics for the reconstruction process.

Operation of the DIII-D tokamak at General Atomics involves many groups which work on the various subsystems. To overview and speed the solution to trouble or problem areas that limit machine availability, a common trouble report system was established. The TROUBLE database automates the recording of trouble reports and eases analysis of problem areas. It contains information on equipment affected, description of problem, cause of problem, solution to problem, and machine downtime (if any). It was created using S1032 from Compuserve Data Technologies and runs on a VAX 8650. The data is used to find the major problem areas so they can be solved and improve the tokamak availability. The data is available to Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). They are using the data with data from other tokamaks to develop a Fusion Failure Experience Data Collection. Our experience is that a few failures are often the cause of a major part of the downtime. We will discuss these failures and the actions taken to correct them. The data base also will be used to determine the preventive maintenance schedule for different components.

Spherical tokamak (ST) merging method is one of the ST start-up methods which heats the plasma through magnetic reconnection. In the present study reconstruction of eddy current profile and plasma shape was performed during spherical tokamak merging only using external sensor signals by the Cauchy condition surface (CCS) method. CCS method have been implemented for JT-60 (QST), QUEST (Kyushu University), KSTAR (NFRI), RELAX (KIT), and LHD (Nifs). In this method, CCS was assumed inside each plasmas, where both flux function and its normal derivative are unknown. Effect of plasma current was replaced by the boundary condition of CCS, assuming vacuum field everywhere. Also, the nodal points for the boundary integrals of eddy current density were set using quadratic elements in order to express the complicated vacuum vessel shape. Reconstructed profiles of the eddy current and the magnetic flux were well coincided with the reference in each phase of merging process. Magnetic sensor installation plan for UTST was determined from these calculation results. This work was supported by the JSPS A3 Foresight Program ``Innovative Tokamak Plasma Startup and Current Drive in Spherical Torus''.

Pedestal plasma turbulence was experimentally studied by microwave reflectometry on EAST tokamak. The characteristics of edge pedestal turbulence during dithering L-H transition, ELM-free H-mode phase and inter-ELM phase have recently been studied on EAST. An edge spatial structure of density fluctuation and its dithering temporal evolution is observed for the first time on the EAST tokamak during the L-H transition phase. A coherent mode usually appears during the ELM-free phase prior to the first ELM on EAST tokamak. The mode frequency gradually decreases as the pedestal evolves. Analysis shows that the coherent mode is in the pedestal region inside the separatrix. In plasma with type-III ELMs, a precursor mode before ELM is usually observed. The frequency of the precursor was initially about 150 kHz and gradually decreased till the next ELM. The mode amplitude increases or shows saturation before ELM. In the plasma with compound ELMs composed of high and low frequency ELMs, the precursor was also observed before the high frequency ELM while the harmonic oscillations with frequencies of 20 kHz, 40 kHz and 60 kHz appear before the low frequency ELM.

The present approach to magnetic fusion which relies on high recycling plasma-wall interaction has exhausted itself at the level of TFTR, JET, JT-60 devices with no realistic path to the burning plasma. Instead, magnetic fusion needs a return to its original idea of insulation of the plasma from the wall, which was the dominant approach in the 1970s and upon implementations has a clear path to the DEMO device with PDT ~= 100 MW and Qelectric > 1 . The SFLiLi systems of this talk is the technology tool for implementation of the guiding idea of magnetic fusion. It utilizes the unique properties of flowing LiLi to pump plasma particles and, thus, insulate plasma from the walls. The necessary flow rate, ~= 1 g3/s, is very small, thus, making the use of lithium practical and consistent with safety requirements. The talk describes how chemical activity of LiLi, which is the major technology challenge of using LiLi in tokamaks, is addressed by SFLiLi systems at the level of already performed (HT-7) experiment, and in ongoing implementations for a prototype of SFLiLi for tokamak divertors and the mid-plane limiter for EAST tokamak (to be tested in the next experimental campaign). This work is supported by US DoE contract No. DE-AC02-09-CH11466.

An upgraded MIR system is being developed for the EAST tokamak based on the successful DIII-D MIR system. The EAST MIR system has 8 radial channels consisting of 8 independent probing frequencies ranging from 75 to 103 GHz, driven by fast tuning synthesizers and active frequency multipliers. There are 12 poloidal channels in the heterodyne down-conversion receiver system, with each channel corresponding to a separate poloidal position inside the tokamak. The down-conversion electronics are designed to optimize signal to noise ratio and are embedded with a microcontroller to realize remote computer control. Considerable improvements are also seen in the front-end plasma facing optics. This new optical system provides features including focusing, zoom, field curvature adjustment, and incident angle adjustment. These functions can be realized together or independently depending on the configuration setup of the large aperture lenses. This MIR system is expected to be installed on the EAST tokamak in December 2016, co-located with the Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) system, to simultaneously measure electron density and temperature fluctuations. This work was supported by U.S. DOE Grant DE-FG02-99ER54531 and by the National MCF energy development program of China.

Dust particulates in the size range of 10nm-100{micro}m are found in all fusion devices. Such dust can be generated during tokamak operation due to strong plasma/material-surface interactions. Some recent experiments and theoretical estimates indicate that dust particles can provide an important source of impurities in the tokamak plasma. Moreover, dust can be a serious threat to the safety of next-step fusion devices. In this paper, recent experimental observations on dust in fusion devices are reviewed. A physical model for dust transport simulation, and a newly developed code DUSTT, are discussed. The DUSTT code incorporates both dust dynamics due to comprehensive dust-plasma interactions as well as the effects of dust heating, charging, and evaporation. The code tracks test dust particles in realistic plasma backgrounds as provided by edge-plasma transport codes. Results are presented for dust transport in current and next-step tokamaks. The effect of dust on divertor plasma profiles and core plasma contamination is examined.

Plasma characteristics in the far scrape-off layer region of tokamak play a crucial role in the stable plasma operation and its sustainability. Due to the huge facility, electrical diagnostic systems to measure plasma properties have extremely long cable length resulting in large stray current. To overcome this problem, a sideband harmonic method was applied to the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak plasma. The sideband method allows the measurement of the electron temperature and the plasma density without the effect of the stray current. The measured plasma densities are compared with those from the interferometer, and the results show reliability of the method.

Plasma characteristics in the far scrape-off layer region of tokamak play a crucial role in the stable plasma operation and its sustainability. Due to the huge facility, electrical diagnostic systems to measure plasma properties have extremely long cable length resulting in large stray current. To overcome this problem, a sideband harmonic method was applied to the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tokamak plasma. The sideband method allows the measurement of the electron temperature and the plasma density without the effect of the stray current. The measured plasma densities are compared with those from the interferometer, and the results show reliability of the method.

Significant ion/electron heating of magnetic reconnection up to 1.2 keV was documented in two spherical tokamak plasma merging experiment on MAST with the significantly large Reynolds number R∼10{sup 5}. Measured 1D/2D contours of ion and electron temperatures reveal clearly energy-conversion mechanisms of magnetic reconnection: huge outflow heating of ions in the downstream and localized heating of electrons at the X-point. Ions are accelerated up to the order of poloidal Alfven speed in the reconnection outflow region and are thermalized by fast shock-like density pileups formed in the downstreams, in agreement with recent solar satellite observations and PIC simulation results. The magnetic reconnection efficiently converts the reconnecting (poloidal) magnetic energy mostly into ion thermal energy through the outflow, causing the reconnection heating energy proportional to square of the reconnecting (poloidal) magnetic field B{sub rec}{sup 2} ∼ B{sub p}{sup 2}. The guide toroidal field B{sub t} does not affect the bulk heating of ions and electrons, probably because the reconnection/outflow speeds are determined mostly by the external driven inflow by the help of another fast reconnection mechanism: intermittent sheet ejection. The localized electron heating at the X-point increases sharply with the guide toroidal field B{sub t}, probably because the toroidal field increases electron confinement and acceleration length along the X-line. 2D measurements of magnetic field and temperatures in the TS-3 tokamak merging experiment also reveal the detailed reconnection heating mechanisms mentioned above. The high-power heating of tokamak merging is useful not only for laboratory study of reconnection but also for economical startup and heating of tokamak plasmas. The MAST/TS-3 tokamak merging with B{sub p} > 0.4 T will enables us to heat the plasma to the alpha heating regime: T{sub i} > 5 keV without using any additional heating facility.

Experiments on microwave generation using a free electron laser (FEL) have shown this to be an efficient way to generate millimeter wave power in short, intense pulses. Short pulse FEL's have several advantages that make them attractive for application to ECR heating of tokamak fusion reactors. This paper reports on plans made to demonstrate the technology at the Microwave Tokamak Experiment (MTX) Facility.

Transport simulations of ohmic gas-fuelled and pellet-fuelled experiments have been carried out to test a microinstability-based, profile-consistent model of anomalous transport in tokamaks. Predictions for experiments on the TFTR, ASDEX, and ALCATOR-C tokamaks were found consistent with the observed confinement and temperature measurements. 26 refs., 11 figs., 10 tabs.

We present results on the discharge design of the HL-2M tokamak, which is to be an upgrade to the existing HL-2A tokamak. We present simulation results for complete 5-sec. discharges, both double null and lower single null, for both ohmic and auxiliary heated discharges. We also discuss the vertical stability properties of the device. __________________________________________________

For the first time, an imaging motional Stark effect (IMSE) diagnostic has been successfully implemented on DIII-D. This poster presents initial results on incorporating these measurements into EFIT equilibrium reconstructions. IMSE provides a 2D image of the polarization angle as a function of major radius and vertical position. The single, wider bandpass filter used with IMSE allows for polarization angle measurements across multiple neutral beams and with variable beam voltage. The traditional MSE systems on DIII-D only work with one beam at a constant voltage. In addition to 2D data with improved spatial resolution, IMSE has provided the lowest major radius internal plasma magnetic measurements on DIII-D, producing new equilibrium constraints. Advanced tokamak scenarios with qmin > 1.5 are studied in detail with the new constraints provided by the IMSE system. The additional constraints are being used to assess ideal, resistive, and energetic particle stability in these scenarios. Supported by US DOE under DE-AC52-07NA27344, DE-FC02-04ER54698, and DE-FG02-04ER54761.

The US fusion community has identified a compelling need for a National Divertor Test Tokamak. The 2015 Community Planning Workshop on PMI called for a national working group to develop options. Important elements of a NDTT, adopted from the ADX concept, include the ability to explore long-leg divertor `solutions for power exhaust and particle control' (Priority Research Direction B) and to employ inside-launch RF actuators combined with double-null topologies as `plasma solution for main chamber wall components, including tools for controllable sustained operation' (PRD-C). Here we examine new information on these ideas. The projected performance of super-X and X-point target long-leg divertors is looking very promising; a stable fully-detached divertor condition handling an order-of-magnitude increase in power handling over conventional divertors may be possible. New experiments on Alcator C-Mod are addressing issues of high-field side versus low-field side heat flux sharing in double-null topologies and the screening of impurities that might originate from RF actuators placed in the high-field side - both with favorable results. Supported by USDoE Awards DE-FC02-99ER54512 and DE-AC52-07NA27344.

DIII-D has recently demonstrated improved energy confinement by injecting neutral gas into high performance Advanced Tokamak (AT) plasmas during high power operation. Representative parameters are: q95 = 6, PIN up to 15 MW, H98 = 1.4-1.8, and βN = 2.8-4.2. Unlike in lower and moderate powered AT plasmas, τE and βN increased (and νELM decreased) as density was increased by deuterium gas puffing. We discuss how the interplay between pedestal density and temperature with fueling can lead to higher ballooning stability and a peeling/kink current limit that increasers as the pressure gradient increases. Comparison of neon, nitrogen, and argon as ``seed'' impurities in high PIN ATs in terms of their effects on core dilution, τE, and heat flux (q⊥) reduction favors argon. In general, the puff-and-pump radiating divertor was not as effective in reducing q⊥ while maintaining density control at highest PIN than it was at lower PIN. Work supported by the US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698, DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-AC04-94AL85000, DE-AC52-07NA27344, and DE-FG02-07ER54917.

Progress on the development of the continuum gyrokinetic code COGENT for edge plasma simulations is reported. The COGENT code models an axisymmetric gyrokinetic equation coupled to the long-wavelength limit of the gyro-Poisson equation. COGENT is distinguished by application of fourth-order conservative discretization, and mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the geometric complexity of the tokamak edge. The code has also a number of model collision operator options, which have been successfully verified in neoclassical simulations. Our recent development work has focused on incorporation of the full (nonlinear) Fokker-Planck collision model. The implementation of the Fokker-Plank operator is discussed in detail, and the results of the initial verification studies are presented. In addition, we report on progress and status of the newly available divertor version of the COGENT code that includes both closed and open magnetic field line regions and a model for recycled neutral gas. Work performed for USDOE, at LLNL under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and at LBNL under contract DE-AC02-05CH11231.

The goal of this study is to stabilize the resistive wall modes (RWM) in tokamaks with adaptive stochastic feedback control. This is the first ever attempt at adaptive stochastic feedback optimal control of RWM in tokamaks. Both adaptive optimal state feedback and adaptive output feedback control have been studied. The adaptive optimal state feedback control design successfully stabilizes a slowly time-evolving RWM in a tokamak in a time scale of 4 times the inverse of the growth rate of the RWM. The stabilized system output for the time-invariant model is twice the system noise level. For the time-varying model, it is several times larger than the time-invariant case. The adaptive stochastic output feedback can also stabilize the slowly time-evolving RWM. It can do this in a time about 3 times that of the inverse of the growth rate of the RWM. The stabilized system output is twice as large as that of the state feedback case. In order to avoid the bottleneck encountered in the various sequential computations with big matrices in the feedback algorithms, neural network control has been proposed. It has been used to implement the adaptive stochastic output feedback control. It can stabilize the RWM instability in a time of 3 times the inverse of the growth rate of the RWM. The stabilized wall modes have the steady state output similar to the output feedback case. The developed algorithms, state feedback, output feedback, neural network control, can be readily applied to other plasma instabilities.

The operational limits observed in spherical tokamaks, notably the small tight aspect ratio tokamak (START) device [A. Sykes et al., Nucl. Fusion 32, 694 (1992)], are consistent with those found in conventional aspect ratio tokamaks. In particular the highest β achieved (˜40%) is consistent with an ideal magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) Troyon type limit, the upper limit on density is well described by the Greenwald density (πa2n¯e/Ip˜1) and the normalized current (Ip/aBt) is limited such that q95≳2. Stability calculations indicate scope for increasing both normalized β and normalized current beyond the values so far achieved, although wall stabilization is generally needed for low-n modes. In double null configurations current terminating disruptions occur at each of the operational boundaries, though the current quench tends to be slow at the density limit and disruptions at high β may be due to the low q. In early limiter START discharges, before the divertor coils were installed, disruptions rarely occurred. Instead internal reconnection events which have all the characteristics of a disruption except the current quench occurred. These various disruptive behaviors are explained in terms of a model in which helicity is conserved during the disruption. Due to the low toroidal field beam ions in START, and α particles in a ST power plant, are super-Alfvénic. This gives the possibility for toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) to occur and such modes are frequently observed in START neutral beam injection (NBI) discharges, but seem to be benign. The features of these observed TAEs are shown to be in agreement with MHD calculations.

It has been recognized for some time that the very high fluence of fast (14.1MeV) neutrons produced by deuterium-tritium fusion will represent a major materials challenge for the development of next-generation fusion energy projects such as a fusion component test facility and demonstration fusion power reactor. The best-understood and most promising solutions presently available are a family of low-activation steels originally developed for use in fission reactors, but the ferromagnetic properties of these steels represent a danger to plasma confinement through enhancement of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and increased susceptibility to error fields. At present, experimental research into the effects of ferromagnetic materials on MHD stability in toroidal geometry has been confined to demonstrating that it is still possible to operate an advanced tokamak in the presence of ferromagnetic components. In order to better quantify the effects of ferromagnetic materials on tokamak plasma stability, a new ferritic wall has been installated in the High Beta Tokamak---Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) device. The development, assembly, installation, and testing of this wall as a modular upgrade is described, and the effect of the wall on machine performance is characterized. Comparative studies of plasma dynamics with the ferritic wall close-fitting against similar plasmas with the ferritic wall retracted demonstrate substantial effects on plasma stability. Resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are applied, demonstrating a 50% increase in n = 1 plasma response amplitude when the ferritic wall is near the plasma. Susceptibility of plasmas to disruption events increases by a factor of 2 or more with the ferritic wall inserted, as disruptions are observed earlier with greater frequency. Growth rates of external kink instabilities are observed to be twice as large in the presence of a close-fitting ferritic wall. Initial studies are made of the influence of mode rotation frequency

Nonlinear tearing stability is evaluated for current profiles which are linearly stabilized by flattening the current in the neighborhood of the rational surface. When marginally stable to the linear instability, these profiles remain unstable in the presence of a small but finite island. The growth of the island saturated only when the island reaches the width it would have attained in the absence of flattening. Implications are discused for proposed methods of tearing mode stabilization and for theories of the tokamak sawtooth oscillation. 19 refs., 1 fig.

The poloidal flow damping rate in the vicinity of the magnetic axis in tokamaks is calculated using the time-dependent plasma viscosity. It is found that the damping rate is of the order of {nu}{sub ii}/f{sub t}{sup 2}, where {nu}{sub ii} is the ion-ion collision frequency, and f{sub t} is the fraction of the trapped potatoes. The corresponding neoclassical polarization or inertia enhancement factor is [1+({sigma}{sub p}q{sup 2}/f{sub t})], where {sigma}{sub p} is a numerical number of the order of unity, and q is the safety factor.

Conventional neoclassical transport theory does not pertain near the magnetic axis, where orbital variation of the minor radius and the poloidal field markedly change the nature of guiding-center trajectories. Instead of the conventional tokamak banana-shaped trajectories, near-axis orbits, called potato orbits, are radially wider and lead to distinctive kinetic considerations. Here it is shown that there is a plateau regime for the near-axis case; the corresponding potato-plateau ion thermal conductivity is computed. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}

This paper analyzes the optimization of the geometry of resistive TF coils of rectangular bore for tokamak fusion test reactors and practical neutron generators. In examining the trade-offs between geometric parameters and magnetic field for reactors giving a specified neutron wall loading, either the resistive power loss or the lifetime coil cost can be minimized. Aspects of cooling, magnetic stress, and construction are addressed for several reference designs. Bending moment distributions in closed form have been derived for rectangular coils on the basis of the theory of rigid frames. Candidate methods of fabrication and of implementing demountable joints are summarized.

Radioactive waste generated as part of the commercial-power and defense nuclear programs can be either stored or transmuted. The latter treatment requires a capital-intensive neutron source and is reserved for particularly hazardous and long-lived actinide and fission-product waste. A comparative description of fusion-based transmutation is made on the basis of rudimentary estimates of ergonic performance and transmutation capacities versus inventories for both ultra-low-aspect-ratio (spherical torus, ST) and conversional (aspect-ratio) tokamak fusion-power-core drivers. The parametric systems studies reported herein provides a preamble to more-detailed, cost-based systems analyses.

Global, first-principles study of the kinetic ballooning mode (KBM) is crucial to understand tokamak edge physics in high-confinement mode (H-mode). In contrast to the ion temperature gradient mode and trapped electron mode, the KBM is found to be very sensitive to the equilibrium implementations in gyrokinetic codes. In this paper, we show that a second-order difference in Shafranov shift or geometric coordinates, or a difference between local and global profile implementations can bring a factor of two or more discrepancy in real frequency and growth rate. This suggests that an accurate global equilibrium is required for validation of gyrokinetic KBM simulations.

A local equilibrium model near the separatrix with up-down symmetric double nulls is developed in this work. Shaping features like elongation, triangularity and Shafranov shift of the reference magnetic surface are taken into account in the model. The poloidal magnetic field is determined as done in Ref.. The model can be used to study the effect of separatrix on the localized plasma modes such as peeling-ballooning modes near the tokamak edge region. As the first application we use it to calculate the Mercier index determining interchange modes.

The spectral code BETAS computes plasma equilibrium in a toroidal magnetic field B = [unk]s × [unk]Ψ with remarkable accuracy because the finite difference scheme employed in the radial direction allows for discontinuities of the flux function Ψ across the nested surfaces s = const. Instability of higher modes in stellarators like the Heliotron E can be detected in roughly an hour on the best supercomputers by calculating bifurcated equilibria that are defined over just one field period. The method has been validated by comparing results about nonlinear saturation of ballooning modes in tokamaks with numerical data from the PEST code. PMID:16593984

A tokamak apparatus includes an electrically conductive metal pressure vessel for defining a chamber and confining liquid therein. A liner disposed within said chamber defines a toroidal space within the liner and confines gas therein. The metal vessel provides an electrically conductive path linking the toroidal space. Liquid metal is forced outwardly through the chamber outside of the toroidal space to generate electric current in the conductive path and thereby generate a toroidal magnetic field within the toroidal space. Toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof.

A tokamak apparatus includes a vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A toroidal liner disposed within said vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner confines gas therein. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside the liner. A magnetic field is established in the liquid metal to develop magnetic flux linking the toroidal space. The gas is ionized. The liquid metal and the toroidal space are moved relative to one another transversely of the space to generate electric current in the ionized gas in the toroidal space about its major axis and thereby heat plasma developed in the toroidal space.

A tokamak apparatus includes a pressure vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A collapsible toroidal liner disposed within the pressure vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside said liner. A toroidal magnetic field is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. A toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. Pressure is applied to the liquid metal to collapse the liner and reduce the volume of the toroidal space, thereby increasing the toroidal magnetic flux density therein.

Radial fluxes of parallel momentum due to E× B and magnetic drifts are shown to be correlated in tokamak plasmas. This correlation comes from the onset of poloidal convective cells generated by turbulence. The entire process requires a symmetry breaking mechanism, e.g. a mean shear flow. An analytical calculation shows that anti-correlation between the poloidal and parallel components of the turbulent Reynolds stress results in anti-correlation of the fluxes of parallel momentum generated by E× B and curvature drifts.

In this study, the first 4D (axisymmetric) high-order continuum gyrokinetic transport simulations that span the magnetic separatrix of a tokamak are presented. The modeling is performed with the COGENT code, which is distinguished by fourth-order finite-volume discretization combined with mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the strong anisotropy of plasmatransport and the complex X-point divertor geometry with high accuracy. The calculations take into account the effects of fully nonlinear Fokker-Plank collisions, electrostatic potential variations, and anomalous radial transport. Topics discussed include: (a) ion orbit loss and the associated toroidal rotation and (b) edge plasma relaxation in the presence of anomalous radial transport.

We present explicit calculations of the complicated geometric objects known as homoclinic tangles that surround magnetic islands in the Poincare mapping of a tokamak's magnetic field. These tangles are shown to exist generically in the magnetic field of all toroidal confinement systems. The geometry of these tangles provides an explanation for the stochasticity known to occur near the X-points of the Poincare mapping. Furthermore, the intersection of homoclinic tangles from different resonances provides an explicit mechanism for the non-diffusive transport of magnetic field lines between these resonance layers.

Experiments have been carried out on the Joint European Torus tokamak to determine the diffusive and convective momentum transport. Torque, injected by neutral beams, was modulated to create a periodic perturbation in the toroidal rotation velocity. Novel transport analysis shows the magnitude and profile shape of the momentum diffusivity are similar to those of the ion heat diffusivity. A significant inward momentum pinch, up to 20 m/s, has been found. Both results are consistent with gyrokinetic simulations. This evidence is complemented in plasmas with internal transport barriers.

The design, calibration, and installation of disruption halo current sensors for the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak are described in this article. All the sensors are Rogowski coils that surround conducting structures, and all the signals are analog integrated. Coils with two different cross-section sizes have been fabricated, and their mutual inductances are calibrated. Sensors have been installed to measure halo currents in several different parts of both the upper divertor (tungsten) and lower divertor (graphite) at several toroidal locations. Initial measurements from disruptions show that the halo current diagnostics are working well.

Experiments have been carried out on the Joint European Torus tokamak to determine the diffusive and convective momentum transport. Torque, injected by neutral beams, was modulated to create a periodic perturbation in the toroidal rotation velocity. Novel transport analysis shows the magnitude and profile shape of the momentum diffusivity are similar to those of the ion heat diffusivity. A significant inward momentum pinch, up to 20 m/s, has been found. Both results are consistent with gyrokinetic simulations. This evidence is complemented in plasmas with internal transport barriers.

The first 4D (axisymmetric) high-order continuum gyrokinetic transport simulations that span the magnetic separatrix of a tokamak are presented. The modeling is performed with the COGENT code, which is distinguished by fourth-order finite-volume discretization combined with mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the strong anisotropy of plasma transport and the complex X-point divertor geometry with high accuracy. The calculations take into account the effects of fully nonlinear Fokker-Plank collisions, electrostatic potential variations, and anomalous radial transport. Topics discussed include: (a) ion orbit loss and the associated toroidal rotation and (b) edge plasma relaxation in the presence of anomalous radial transport.

Recent experience with the use of tritium fuel in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor and the Joint European Torus, together with progress in developing the technical design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor has expanded the technical knowledge base for tritium issues in fusion. This paper reports on an IEA workshop that brought together scientists and engineers to share experience and expertise on all fusion-related tritium issues. Extensive discussion periods were devoted to exploring outstanding issues and identifying potential R{ampersand}D avenues to address them. This paper summarizes the presentations, discussions, and recommendations.

A three-dimensional global gyrokinetic particle code in toroidal geometry has been used for investigating the transport properties of ion temperature gradient (ITG) drift instabilities in tokamak plasmas. Using the isotopes of hydrogen (H{sup +}), deuterium (D{sup +}) and tritium (T{sup +}), we have found that, under otherwise identical conditions, there exists a favorable isotope scaling for the ion thermal diffusivity, i.e., Xi decreases with mass. Such a scaling, which exists both at the saturation of the instability and also at the nonlinear steady state, can be understood from the resulting wavenumber and frequency spectra.

Order of magnitude improvements in the level and duration of current driven by lower hybrid waves have been achieved in the PLT tokamak. Steady currents up to 175 kA have been maintained for three seconds and 400 kA for 0.3 sec by the rf power alone. The principal current carrier appears to be a high energy (approx. 100 keV) electron component, concentrated in the central 20 to 40 cm diameter core of the 80 cm PLT discharge.

Experiments were conducted on TFTR to study the radiation of krypton which will be important for future tokamaks, such as ITER, for the diagnostic of the central ion temperature and for the control of the energy release from the plasma by radiative cooling. The total krypton radiation was monitored, and satellite spectra of Kr XXXV were recorded with a high-resolution crystal spectrometer. Radiative cooling and reduced particle recycling at the plasma edge region were observed, in reasonable agreement with modeling calculations which included radial transport.

Neutral atoms can strongly influence the intrinsic rotation and radial electric field at the tokamak edge. Here, we present a framework to investigate these effects when the neutrals dominate the momentum transport. We explore the parameter space numerically, using highly flexible model geometries and a state of the art kinetic solver. We find that the most important parameters controlling the toroidal rotation and electric field are the major radius where the neutrals are localized and the plasma collisionality. This offers a means to influence the rotation and electric field by, for example, varying the radial position of the X-point to change the major radius of the neutral peak.

The VUV/XUV spectral region is particularly rich in lines emitted by plasmas with temperatures ≤ 30 keV used in fusion research. Examples are presented of analyses of JET tokamak data involving C VUV/XUV radiation. In the first, the C IV divertor emission is modelled, with agreement between theory and experiment to within the measurement accuracy of ~±10%. A second deals with C emission from the Scrape-off Layer (SOL) within the main chamber for which inconsistencies are found.

Radiation−condensation instability (RCI) is one of the possible mechanisms behind the formation of microfaceted asymmetric radiation from the edge (MARFE) of a tokamak. It has been previously shown by the authors that RCI in carbon-seeded plasma can be stabilized using neon injection. Recently, beryllium- and tungsten-seeded plasmas became a subject of great interest. Therefore, in the present paper, RCI stability analysis of the edge plasma seeded with beryllium, tungsten, nitrogen, and carbon is performed. The influence of neutral hydrogen fluxes from the wall on the marginal stability limit is studied as well.

The design, calibration, and installation of disruption halo current sensors for the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak are described in this article. All the sensors are Rogowski coils that surround conducting structures, and all the signals are analog integrated. Coils with two different cross-section sizes have been fabricated, and their mutual inductances are calibrated. Sensors have been installed to measure halo currents in several different parts of both the upper divertor (tungsten) and lower divertor (graphite) at several toroidal locations. Initial measurements from disruptions show that the halo current diagnostics are working well.

It's shown that the plasma isotope composition in a tokamak reactor divertor layer changes along the magnetic field and can notable differ from the gas composition in a pumping chamber. Heavier tritium must concentrate in the hot plasma far from the divertor plate due to thermal force stipulated by mutial collisions of deuterium and tritium ions. This circumstance is favourable from the point of view of tritium cycle optimization and must facilitate solution of the problem of tritium accumulation in the reactor construction elements.

Neutral pumping rates are calculated for pump-limiter and divertor options of a next step tokamak ignition device using a method that accounts for the coupled effects of neutral transport and plasma transport. For both pump limiters and divertors the plasma flow into the channel surrounding the neutralizer plate is greatly reduced by the neutral recycling. The fraction of this flow that is pumped can be large (>50%) but in general is dependent on the particular geometry and plasma conditions. It is estimated that pumping speeds greater than or approximately 10/sup 5/ L/s are adequate for the exhaust requirements in the pump-limiter and the divertor cases.

The cycling dynamics of the internal kink mode, which drives sawtooth oscillations in tokamak plasmas, is studied using the three dimensional, non-linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code XTOR-2F [H. Luetjens and J.-F. Luciani, J. Comput. Phys. 229, 8130 (2010)]. It is found that sawtooth cycling, which is characterized by quiescent ramps and fast crashes in the experiment, can be recovered in two-fluid MHD provided that a criterion of diamagnetic stabilization is fulfilled. The simulation results indicate that diamagnetic effects alone may be sufficient to drive sawteeth with complete magnetic reconnection in high temperature Ohmic plasmas.

Initial experiments on heating and current drive using second harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) are being performed on the DIII-D tokamak using the new 110 GHz ECH system. Modulation of the ECH power in the frequency range 50 to 300 Hz and detection of the temperature perturbation by ECE diagnostics is used to validate the location of the heating. This technique also determines an upper bound on the width of the deposition profile. Analysis of electron cyclotron current drive indicates that up to 0.17 MA of central current is driven, resulting in a negative loop voltage near the axis.

Isoparametric quadrilateral and triangular elements were used to represent the vacuum vessel shell structure. For toroidally symmetric loadings, MPCs were employed across model boundaries and rigid format 24 was invoked. Nonsymmetric loadings required the use of the cyclic symmetry analysis available with rigid format 49. NASTRAN served as an important analysis tool in the Tokamak design effort by providing a reliable means for assessing structural integrity. Interactive graphics were employed in the finite element model generation and in the post-processing of results. It was felt that model generation and checkout with interactive graphics reduced the modelling effort and debugging man-hours significantly.

Results are presented from the 3D nonlocal electromagnetic turbulence code BOUT [1] and the linearized shooting code BAL[2] to study turbulence in tokamak boundary plasmas and its relationship to the L-H transition, in a realistic divertor plasma geometry. The key results include: (1) the identification of the dominant, resistive X-point mode in divertor geometry and (2) turbulence suppression in the L-H transition by shear in the ExB drift speed, ion diamagnetism and finite polarization. Based on the simulation results, a parameterization of the transport is given that includes the dependence on the relevant physical parameters.

It is shown that small externally applied magnetic perturbations can significantly alter important geometric properties of magnetic flux surfaces in tokamaks. Through 3D shaping, experimentally relevant perturbation levels are large enough to influence turbulent transport and MHD stability in the pedestal region. It is shown that the dominant pitch-resonant flux surface deformations are primarily induced by non-resonant 3D fields, particularly in the presence of significant axisymmetric shaping. The spectral content of the applied 3D field can be used to control these effects.

We describe here a numerical model of a free boundary axisymmetric tokamak plasma and its associated control systems. The plasma is modeled with a hybrid method using two-dimensional velocity and flux functions with surface-averaged MHD equations describing the evolution of the adiabatic invariants. Equations are solved for the external circuits and for the effects of eddy currents in nearby conductors. The method is verified by application to several test problems and used to simulate the formation of a bean-shaped plasma in the PBX experiment.

The Joint European Torus (JET) is the world's largest operating tokamak and the only such machine capable of operating with the fuel mixture (deuterium-tritium) foreseen for a fusion reactor. Since it came into operation in 1983, JET has explored fusion plasmas "in conditions and dimensions approaching those of a fusion reactor" [1]. JET has demonstrated world-record levels of fusion power and energy production, in conditions where the ratio of the fusion power generated to the input power to the plasma, Q, approaches unity.

Low-mode-number tearing, mode nonlinear evolution is analyzed emphasizing the need for a threshold condition, to account for observations in tokamaks. The discussion is illustrated by two models recently introduced in the literature. The models can be compared with the available data and/or serve as a basis for planning some experiments in order to either test theory (by means of beta-limit scaling laws, as proposed in this paper) or attempt to control undesirable tearing modes. Introducing a threshold condition in the tearing mode stability analysis is found to reveal some bifurcation points and thus domains of intrinsic stability in the island dynamics operational space.

Tritium management is a key enabling element in fusion technology. Tritium fuel was used in 3.5 years of successful deuterium-tritium (D-T) operations in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The D-T campaign enabled TFTR to explore the transport, alpha physics, and MHD stability of a reactor core. It also provided experience with tritium retention and removal that highlighted the importance of these issues in future D-T machines. In this paper, the authors summarize the tritium retention and removal experience in TFTR and its implications for future reactors.

New observations of the formation and dynamics of long-lived impurity-induced helical "snake" modes in tokamak plasmas have recently been carried-out on Alcator C-Mod. The snakes form as an asymmetry in the impurity ion density that undergoes a seamless transition from a small helically displaced density to a large crescent-shaped helical structure inside q < 1, with a regularly sawtoothing core. The observations show that the conditions for the formation and persistence of a snake cannot be explained by plasma pressure alone. Instead, many features arise naturally from nonlinear interactions in a 3D MHD model that separately evolves the plasma density and temperature

Radioactive waste generated as part of the commercial-power and defense nuclear programs can be either stored or transmuted. The latter treatment requires a capital-intensive neutron source and is reserved for particularly hazardous and long-lived actinide and fission-product waste. A comparative description of fusion-based transmutation is made on the basis of rudimentary estimates of ergonic performance and transmutation capacities versus inventories for both ultra-low aspect-ratio (spherical torus, ST) and conversional (aspect-ratio) tokamak fusion-power-core drivers. The parametric systems studies reported herein provides a preamble to more-detailed, cost-based systems analyses.

The initial magnetic diagnostics for the KSTAR superconducting tokamak including three Rogowski coils, five flux/voltage loops, and sixty-four magnetic field probes have been successfully installed. The Rogowski coils, flux/voltage loops, and magnetic field probes measure the total plasma current, poloidal flux and loop voltage, and local poloidal magnetic field for the plasma position control and equilibrium studies, respectively. Accurate position measurements after installation for all of these initial magnetic diagnostics and in situ calibration for the Rogowski coils were finished. Data acquisition systems for these initial magnetic diagnostics are currently under preparation. Detail commissioning activities before the first plasma from these initial magnetic diagnostics will be presented.

The strong radial electric field in a subsonic tokamak pedestal modifies the neoclassical ion parallel flow velocity, as well as the radial ion heat flux. Existing experimental evidence of the resulting alteration in the poloidal flow of a trace impurity is discussed. We then demonstrate that the modified parallel ion flow can noticeably enhance the pedestal bootstrap current when the background ions are in the banana regime. Only the coefficient of the ion temperature gradient drive term is affected. The revised expression for the pedestal bootstrap current is presented. The prescription for inserting the modification into any existing banana regime bootstrap current expression is given.

We have constructed a nonhydrodynamic coronal model for calculating radiation from impurity atoms in a heated plasma. Some recent developments in the calculation of dielectronic recombination rate coefficients and collisional excitation rate coefficients are included. The model is applied to oxygen impurity radiation during the first few milliseconds of a TFR Tokamak plasma discharge, and good agreement with experimental results is obtained. Estimates of total line and continuum radiation from the oxygen impurity are given. It is shown that impurity radiation represents a considerable energy loss.

The design, calibration, and installation of disruption halo current sensors for the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak are described in this article. All the sensors are Rogowski coils that surround conducting structures, and all the signals are analog integrated. Coils with two different cross-section sizes have been fabricated, and their mutual inductances are calibrated. Sensors have been installed to measure halo currents in several different parts of both the upper divertor (tungsten) and lower divertor (graphite) at several toroidal locations. Initial measurements from disruptions show that the halo current diagnostics are working well.

Understanding sustainment of stable equilibria with helicity injection in HIT-SI has led to a simple picture of several tokamak features. Perturbations cause a viscous-like force on the current that flattens the λ profile, which sustains and stabilizes the equilibrium. An explanation of the mechanism is based on two properties of stable, ideal, two-fluid, magnetized plasma. First, the electron fluid is frozen to magnetic fields and, therefore, current flow is also magnetic field flow. Second, for a stable equilibrium the structure perpendicular to the flux surface resists deformation. Thus toroidal current is from electrons frozen in nested, rotating resilient flux surfaces. Only symmetric flux surfaces allow free differential current flow. Perturbations cause interference of the flux surfaces. Thus, perturbations cause forces that oppose differential electron rotation and forced differential flow produces a symmetrizing force against perturbations and instability. This mechanism can explain the level of field error that spoils tokamak performance and the rate of poloidal flux loss in argon-induced disruptions in DIII-D. This new understanding has led to an explanation of the source of the solar magnetic fields and the power source for the chromosphere, solar wind and corona. Please place in spheromak and FRC section with other HIT posters.

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) is a one-of-a-kind, tritium-fueled fusion research reactor that ceased operation in April 1997. As a result, decommissioning commenced in October 1999. The 100 cubic meter volume of the donut-shaped reactor makes it the second largest fusion reactor in the world. The deuterium-tritium experiments resulted in contaminating the vacuum vessel with tritium and activating the materials with 14 MeV neutrons. The total tritium content within the vessel is in excess of 7,000 Curies, while dose rates approach 50 mRem/hr. These radiological hazards along with the size of the tokamak present a unique and challenging task for dismantling. Engineers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) decided to investigate an alternate, innovative approach for dismantlement of the TFTR vacuum vessel: diamond wire cutting technology. In August 1999, this technology was successfully demonstrated and evaluated on vacuum vessel surrogates. Subsequently, the technology was improved and redesigned for the actual cutting of the vacuum vessel. Ten complete cuts were performed in a 6-month period to complete the removal of this unprecedented type of D&D (Decontamination and Decommissioning) activity.

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) is a one-of-a-kind, tritium-fueled fusion research reactor that ceased operation in April 1997. As a result, decommissioning commenced in October 1999. The 100 cubic meter volume of the donut-shaped reactor makes it the second largest fusion reactor in the world. The deuterium-tritium experiments resulted in contaminating the vacuum vessel with tritium and activating the materials with 14 Mev neutrons. The total tritium content within the vessel is in excess of 7,000 Curies while dose rates approach 50 mRem/hr. These radiological hazards along with the size of the Tokamak present a unique and challenging task for dismantling. Engineers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) decided to investigate an alternate, innovative approach for dismantlement of the TFTR vacuum vessel: diamond wire cutting technology. In August 1999, this technology was successfully demonstrated and evaluated on vacuum vessel surrogates. Subsequently, the techno logy was improved and redesigned for the actual cutting of the vacuum vessel. 10 complete cuts were performed in a 6-month period to complete the removal of this unprecedented type of D&D activity.

The ability of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) to attain the largest fusion power gain depends critically on minimizing plasma contamination and controlling the densities of the reacting deuterium and tritium. Experiments on a number of tokamaks have demonstrated that gettering over an appreciable surface area (greater than or equal to 10%) of the vacuum vessel greatly facilitates both of these objectives. One particular problem in implementing a surface pumping system in TFTR, however, is a restriction on the maximum allowable tritium content of the getter. This restriction could require regeneration of the absorbed tritium after as few as 50 machine pulses. We have developed a scheme utilizing SAES Zr/Al getter modules which obviates the need for such frequent interruptions of machine operation by taking advantage of the pulsed operation of TFTR. With the Zr/Al getter at temperatures between 500/sup 0/C to 600/sup 0/C it is possible to achieve a quasi-steady state in the tritium loading where the quantity of tritium desorbed between pulses is equal to the quantity which is absorbed during a pulse. Since frequent thermal cycling is not required, this scheme also reduces the possibility of Zr/Al getter material fatigue.

Transport in the tokamak core is dominated by turbulence driven by plasma microinstabilities. When calculating turbulent fluxes, maintaining both a first-principle-based model and computational tractability is a strong constraint. We present a pathway to circumvent this constraint by emulating quasilinear gyrokinetic transport code output through a nonlinear regression using multilayer perceptron neural networks. This recovers the original code output, while accelerating the computing time by five orders of magnitude, allowing realtime applications. A proof-of-principle is presented based on the QuaLiKiz quasilinear transport model, using a training set of five input dimensions, relevant for ITG turbulence. The model is implemented in the RAPTOR real-time capable tokamak simulator, and simulates a 300s ITER discharge in 10s. Progress in generalizing the emulation to include 12 input dimensions is presented. This opens up new possibilities for interpretation of present-day experiments, scenario preparation and open-loop optimization, realtime controller design, realtime discharge supervision, and closed-loop trajectory optimization.

A ten-channel grating polychromator was designed, constructed, and installed on the Texas Experimental Tokamak to monitor the second harmonic electron cyclotron emission. Electron temperature profiles were derived from measurements of the optically thick radiation for a variety of plasma confinement experiments. The radial and temporal evolution of T[sub e] has been characterized for electron cyclotron heated discharges with 150 kW of 60 GHz power. Comparisons were made of the heating efficiency of two type of ECH launchers. A focussed launcher was shown to have slightly better heating efficiency than an unfocussed launcher; however, the focussed antenna did not yield significantly higher electron temperatures as expected. A study of the time evolution of the electron temperature indicated that increased sawtooth activity limited the effectiveness of the focussed launcher. A focussing hog-horn antenna was fabricated and installed on the inboard side of the tokamak to measure emission directed towards the high-field side during ECH. Comparison of the radiation temperature profiles from low-field side and high-field side antennas indicates the creation of a nonthermal electron distribution by the heating. The results of the experiment compare favorably with theoretical predictions from a quasi-linear Fokker-Planck code of a 6 keV nonthermal population with a density about 1 percent of the thermal density.

We describe a new version of GBS, a 3D global, flux-driven plasma turbulence code to simulate the turbulent dynamics in the tokamak scrape-off layer (SOL), superseding the code presented by Ricci et al. (2012) [14]. The present work is driven by the objective of studying SOL turbulent dynamics in medium size tokamaks and beyond with a high-fidelity physics model. We emphasize an intertwining framework of improved physics models and the computational improvements that allow them. The model extensions include neutral atom physics, finite ion temperature, the addition of a closed field line region, and a non-Boussinesq treatment of the polarization drift. GBS has been completely refactored with the introduction of a 3-D Cartesian communicator and a scalable parallel multigrid solver. We report dramatically enhanced parallel scalability, with the possibility of treating electromagnetic fluctuations very efficiently. The method of manufactured solutions as a verification process has been carried out for this new code version, demonstrating the correct implementation of the physical model.

The results of energy-confinement experiments on steady-state tokamak plasmas are examined. For plasmas with auxiliary heating, an analysis based on the heat diffusion equation is used to define heat confinement time (the incremental energy confinement time). For ohmically sustained plasmas, experiments show that the onset of the saturation regime of energy confinement, marfeing, detachment, and disruption are marked by distinct values of the parameter /bar n//sub e///bar j/. The confinement results of the two types of experiments can be described by a single surface in 3-dimensional space spanned by the plasma energy, the heating power, and the plasma density: the incremental energy confinement time /tau//sub inc/ = ..delta..W/..delta..P is the correct concept for describing results of heat confinement in a heating experiment; the commonly used energy confinement time defined by /tau//sub E/ = W/P is not. A further examination shows that the change of edge parameters, as characterized by the change of the effective collision frequency ..nu../sub e/*, governs the change of confinement properties. The totality of the results of tokamak experiments on energy confinement appears to support a hypothesis that energy transport is determined by the preservation of the pressure gradient scale length. 70 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

A gyrokinetic particle-in-cell approach with direct implicit construction of the coefficient matrix of the Poisson equation from ion polarization and electron parallel nonlinearity is described and applied in global electrostatic toroidal plasma transport simulations. The method is applicable for calculation of the evolution of particle distribution function f including as special cases strong plasma pressure profile evolution by transport and formation of neoclassical flows. This is made feasible by full f formulation and by recording the charge density changes due to the ion polarization drift and electron acceleration along the local magnetic field while particles are advanced. The code has been validated against the linear predictions of the unstable ion temperature gradient mode growth rates and frequencies. Convergence and saturation in both turbulent and neoclassical limit of the ion heat conductivity is obtained with numerical noise well suppressed by a sufficiently large number of simulation particles. A first global full f validation of the neoclassical radial electric field in the presence of turbulence for a heated collisional tokamak plasma is obtained. At high Mach number (M{sub p}{approx}1) of the poloidal flow, the radial electric field is significantly enhanced over the standard neoclassical prediction. The neoclassical radial electric field together with the related GAM oscillations is found to regulate the turbulent heat and particle diffusion levels particularly strongly in a large aspect ratio tokamak at low plasma current.

The EUROfusion MST (Medium Size Tokamaks) task force is in charge of the European science programme in the ASDEX Upgrade, TCV and MAST-U tokamaks. This paper will present an overview of the main results obtained in the 2015/16 campaign in AUG and TCV and the future plans. We will discuss, among others, successful disruption and runaway electron control experiments with MGI and 3D fields, the achievement of full ELM suppression with RMP accompanied by the understanding of plasma response and the heat load pattern study, the exploration of regimes with impurity seeding at high P/R with 85% radiation fraction and good confinement, the study of tungsten fuzz, where W samples with pre-formed nanostructures were exposed to H-mode Helium plasmas and the investigation on advanced divertor concepts. A survey of MHD limits and of MHD control in standard and high-beta regimes will be presented. The results from the AUG campaign dedicated to He plasmas in support of ITER initial operation will also be presented, as well as analysis of old MAST data that reveal interesting features in the filamentary transport. See http://www.euro-fusionscipub.org/mst1.

The ability of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) to attain the largest fusion power gain depends critically on minimizing plasma contamination and controlling the densities of the reacting deuterium and tritium. Experiments on a number of tokamaks have demonstrated that gettering over an appreciable surface area (> or = 10%) of the vacuum vessel greatly facilitates both of these objectives. One particular problem in implementing a surface pumping system in TFTR, however, is a restriction on the maximum allowable tritium content of the getter. This restriction could require regeneration of the absorbed tritium after as few as 50 machine pulses. We have developed a scheme utilizing SAES Zr/Al getter modules which obviates the need for such frequent interruptions of machine operation by taking advantage of the pulsed operation of TFTR. With the Zr/Al getter at temperatures between 500/sup 0/--600/sup 0/C it is possible to achieve a quasisteady state in the tritium loading where the quantity of tritium desorbed between pulses is equal to the quantity which is absorbed during a pulse. Since frequent thermal cycling is not required, this scheme also reduces the possibility of Zr/Al getter material fatigue.

The effects of toroidal and poloidal flows on the equilibrium of tokamak plasmas are numerically investigated using the code FLOW. The code is used to determine the changes in the profiles induced by large toroidal flows on NSTX-like equilibria [with NSTX being the National Spherical Torus Experiment, M. Ono, S.M. Kaye, Y.-K.M. Peng et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] where flows exceeding the sound speed lead to a considerable outward shift of the plasma. The code is also used to study the effects of poloidal flow when the flow velocity profile varies from subsonic to supersonic with respect to the poloidal sound speed. It is found that pressure and density profiles develop a pedestal structure characterized by radial discontinuities at the transonic surface where the poloidal velocity abruptly jumps from subsonic to supersonic values. These results confirm the conclusions of the analytic theory of R. Betti and J. P. Freidberg [Phys. Plasmas 7, 2439 (2000)], derived for a low-β, large aspect ratio tokamak with a circular cross section.

When poloidal flow velocity, Up, becomes close to epsilon C sub s in tokamaks, fluid motion inside the flux surface is governed by a forced KdV equation in the small dissipation limit, where epsilon is an inverse aspect ratio and C sub s is a sound velocity. This implies that a stationary soliton structure appears at the inside region of toroidal plasma or theta is approx. pi, where theta is a poloidal angle. In the limit of large dissipation a forced Burgers equation is more appropriate. This case corresponds to an appearance of shock structure. When an averaged poloidal flow velocity is very close to epsilon C sub s, a shock may be seen in the outer region of toroidal plasma or theta is approx. 0. With the increase of the absolute vakue of (Up-epsilon C sub s) the shock position moves from theta is approx. 0 to theta is approx. pi. Recent tokamak experiments show the existence of poloidal flow with Up is approx. epsilon C sub s in the transition phase from L mode to H mode. Implications of the results in the experiment are discussed.

Tokamak ohmic heating current flowing along toroidally rippled flux surfaces results in a poloidal torque. Since pressure gradients cannot offset torques, the torque drives plasma flows which convect plasma toroidally from ripple necks (high B_pol^2) to ripple bulges (low B_pol^2). Stagnation of the oppositely directed toroidal flows at the ripple bulges thermalizes the directed flow velocity ˜ B_pol/μ_0ρ , giving β _pol ˜1. These flows also convect frozen-in poloidal field lines which accumulate at the bulges enhancing the pinch force there and so reducing the bulge. Thus, a nearly axisymmetric β_pol ˜1 equilibrium is achieved using only a few TF coils. Particles bouncing in step between approaching flows will be Fermi accelerated to form a high energy tail. The ST tokamak magnetic mountain experiment [1] showed that, compared to a 1.8% ripple configuration, a 28% ripple configuration had four times the neutron production, and only a modest degradation of overall confinement; the former is consistent with the notion of Fermi acceleration of particles bouncing between colliding toroidal flows and the latter is consistent with ripple reduction due to toroidal convection of poloidal field lines. [1] W. Stodiek et al, Proc. 4th Intl. Conf. Plasma Phys. and Contr. Nuc. Fusion Res., (Madison, 1971), Vol. 1, p. 465

A nine-channel interferometer/polarimeter system is designed for the RTP tokamak (Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project, a =0.16 m, R =0.72 m, BT =2.5 T, Ip ≤ 200 kA, and plasma pulse duration 200 ms). A CO2-pumped dual-cavity FIR laser system is used to obtain two FIR laser beams of λ =432 μm with a frequency difference of 1 MHz. The FIR beams are expanded by a set of parabolic mirrors. Corner-cube mixers with Schottky diodes are used as detectors. The mixers are mounted on a linear rail system, such that their positions can be easily changed. The interferometer can be operated with a maximum of 19 channels, and will be extended with a polarimeter to measure the poloidal magnetic field distribution. It will be tried to increase the accuracy of the polarimeter by modulating the polarization of the incoming beam. A scheme for polarization modulation which is based on the idea of Dodel and Kunz will be presented in this paper. This scheme has the advantage that only one set of detectors is needed to measure the electron density and current density. The complete system will be presented along with some pilot experiments concerning the polarization modulation.

The sawtooth crash is a hazardous, disruptive phenomenon that is observed in tokamaks whenever the safety factor at the magnetic axis is below unity. Recently, Tokamak Test Fusion Reactor (TFTR) experimental data has revealed interesting features of the dynamical pressure evolution during the crash phase. Motivated by the experimental results, this dissertation focuses on theoretical modeling of the finite pressure effects on the nonlinear stage of the sawtooth crash. The crash phase has been studied numerically employed a toroidal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) initial value code deduced from the FAR code. For the first time, by starting from a concentric equilibrium, it has been shown that the evolution through an m/n = 1/1 magnetic island induces secondary high-n ballooning instabilities. The magnetic island evolution gives rise to convection of the pressure inside the inversion radius and builds up a steep pressure gradient across the island separatrix, or current sheet, and thereby triggers ballooning instabilities below the threshold for the axisymmetric equilibrium. Due to the onset of secondary ballooning modes, concomitant fine scale vortices and magnetic stochasticity are generated. These effects produce strong flows across the current sheet, and thereby significant modify the m = 1 driven magnetic reconnection process. The resultant interaction of the high-n ballooning modes with the magnetic reconnection process is discussed.

The aim of this work is to propose the optimum scheme for geometric phase measurement in EAST Tokamak. On the one hand, the experimental observation of geometric phase in plasma systems is an essential verification of the geometric phase theory by a new experimental technique. On the other hand, the measurement of geometric phase confirms geometric effect as a new system error in the existing diagnostics. The geometric phase in Faraday rotation angle for linearly polarized electromagnetic waves propagating in non-uniform magnetized plasmas is a good candidate for the first identification of geometric phase in plasma. In this work, the theoretical values of geometric phase for the probe beams of EAST Polarimeter-Interferometer (POINT) system are calculated by path integration in parameter space. Several schemes are proposed for the measurement of the geometric phase in POINT system by amplifying the geometric phase and enhancing the diagnostic resolution. To reach the conditions of the designed scheme for geometric phase measurement, the feasibility of replacing individual retro reflectors (RRs) with retro reflector array (RRA) in POINT system is verified experimentally. Corresponding results are beneficial for geometric phase measurement in EAST Tokamak.

The behavior of magnetic islands with 3D electron temperature and the corresponding 3D resistivity effects on growth are examined for islands with near-zero net heating in the island interior. We refer to the resulting class of non-linearities as thermo-resistive effects. In particular, the effects of varying impurity mix on the previously proposed local island onset threshold [Gates and Delgado-Aparicio, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 165004 (2012)] are examined and shown to be consistent with the well established experimental scalings for tokamaks at the density limit. A surprisingly simple semi-analytic theory is developed which imposes the effects of heating/cooling in the island interior as well as the effects of island geometry. For the class of current profiles considered, it is found that a new term that accounts for the thermal effects of island asymmetry is required in the modified Rutherford equation. The resultant model is shown to exhibit a robust onset of a rapidly growing tearing mode—consistent with the disruption mechanism observed at the density limit in tokamaks. A fully non-linear 3D cylindrical calculation is performed that simulates the effect of net island heating/cooling by raising/suppressing the temperature in the core of the island. In both the analytic theory and the numerical simulation, the sudden threshold for rapid growth is found to be due to an interaction between three distinct thermal non-linearities which affect the island resistivity, thereby modifying the growth dynamics.

Pegasus is a new experiment designed to explore the potential of Extremely Low Aspect Ratio Tokamaks (ELART) at very high toroidal β. Ohmic induction for plasma startup will be followed by ohmic sustainment initially and noninductive RF current drive in the future. Plasma parameters are projected to be Ip <= 0.3 MA, Bt < 0.2T, ≈ 5-40 % or higher, A=1.1-2, R=0.2-0.4 m, and P_RF <= 2MW. Goals of the program include: demonstrate high-β spherical tokamak operation in the near term; examine the stability, n=0 stability properties at high elongation and low- A, confinement and scaling characteristics at A <= 1.25; and extend high power ST operation to the extrema of A <= 1.1. Hollow current profiles should be accessible in Pegasus using a fast current ramp during formation plus off-axis FWCD in the longer term. Recent changes to the design include: increased vacuum vessel height to allow for divertor operation with an internal X-point plus increased accessible elongations (i.,e., κ <= 3.7 at A = 1.25); additional coils for X-point control; and elimination of toroidal gaps in favor of a resistive vacuum vessel. Initial operation will emphasize ohmic access to high- β, followed by high power RF heating.

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is the first deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion device that will study the physics of an ignited plasma. The ability of the tokamak vacuum vessel to be maintained remotely while under vacuum has not been fully demonstrated on previous machines, and this ability will be critical to the efficient and safe operation of ignition devices. Although manned entry into the CIT vacuum vessel will be possible during the nonactivated stages of operation, remotely automated equipment will be used to assist in initial assembly of the vessel as well as to maintain all in-vessel components once the D-T burn is achieved. Remote maintenance and operation will be routinely required for replacement of thermal protection tiles, inspection of components, leak detection, and repair welding activities. Conceptual design to support these remote maintenance activities has been integrated with the conceptual design of the in-vessel components to provide a complete and practical remote maintenance system for CIT. The primary remote assembly and maintenance operations on CIT will be accomplished through two dedicated 37- x 100-cm ports on the main toroidal vessel. Each port contains a single articulated boom manipulator (ABM), which is capable of accessing half of the torus. The proposed ABM consists of a movable carriage assembly, telescoping two-part mast, and articulated link sections. 1 ref.

There is current interest in the idea of using impurity radiation to control the energy exhaust from a future tokamak reactor. A suitable radiator would be one which radiates most strongly in the edge and does not cause a serious fuel dilution problem. Recently, the Hebrew University Lawrence Livermore Atomic Code (HULLAC) was adapted to this problem by making a prediction of the Kr radiation in a TFTR-like background plasma^1. Kr was considered an interesting candidate since the standard Post-Jensen cooling curves indicate a relatively large amount of radiation per ion in the edge relative to the center. HULLAC predicts even much more radiation (up to ~ 10^2× in the tokamak edge) from Kr in the edge than does the average-ion model. A similar result has is found for molybdenum^2. In this poster we will try to determine the nature of this descrepancy; whether it is do to a different ionization-recombination rates being used, an effect of the impurity transport assumptions used, or to some other theoretical problem. This work Supported by DOE subcontract B310463 to LLNL. ^1S. Lippmann, et al. Procedings of the 11th APS Topical Conference on Atomic Processes in Plasmas, 1996, p B20. ^2K. Fournier, these proceedings.

In a tokamak fusion reactor or other magnetically confined fusion device, a rapid decay of the magnetic field due to a disrupting plasma current induces eddy currents in the surrounding structures. These include the limiters, blanket, first wall, and vacuum vessel. The eddy currents, through interaction with the applied toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields, produce large mechanical torques and forces that deflect the structural components. An important coupling effect exists between the dynamic behavior of the structure and the transient eddy current. This coupling occurs when, as it deflects, the component intercepts additional magnetic flux. The coupling between deflection and eddy current could reduce the peak current, deflection, and other electromagnetic effects to a level far less severe than would be predicted if coupling is disregarded. In this study, experiments were performed to investigate deflection, current, and material stress in cantilever beams with the Fusion ELectromagnetic Induction eXperiment (FELIX) at the Argonne National Laboratory. Since structures near the plasma are typically cantilevered, the beams provide a good model for the limiter blades of a tokamak fusion reactor. 2 figs.

The importance of the parallel flow of primary and impurity ions in the Scrape-Off layer (SOL) of divertor tokamaks has been recognized recently. Impurity accumulation on the closed flux surfaces is determined in part by their parallel flow in the SOL. In turn, the parallel transport of the impurity ions is determined in part by drag from the primary ion flow. Measurement of flow in the DIII-D tokamak has begun recently. We describe initial results of modeling plasma ion flow using the 2-D code UEDGE in this paper. We assume the impurity (carbon) arises from chemical and physical sputtering from the walls surrounding the DIII-D plasma. We include six charge states of carbon in our simulations. We make detailed compaison with a multitude of SOL plasma diagnostics, including the flow measurement, to verify the UEDGE physics model. We begin the paper with a brief description of the plasma and neutral models in the UEDGE code in Section 2. We then present initial results of flow simulations and compare them with experimental measurement in Section 3. We conclude with a discussion of the dominant physics processes identified in the modeling in Section 4.

Dust diagnostics and removal techniques are vital for the safe operation of next step fusion devices such as ITER. In the tokamak environment, large particles or fi bers can fall on the electrostatic detector potentially causing a permanent short. An electrostatic dust detector developed in the laboratory is being applied to the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). We report on the development of a gas puff system that uses helium to clear such particles from the detector. Experiments at atmospheric pressure with varying nozzle designs, backing pressures, puff durations and exit fl ow orientations have given an optimal confi guration that effectively removes particles from a 25 cm² area. Similar removal effi ciencies were observed under a vacuum base pressure of 1 mTorr. Dust removal from next step tokamaks will be required to meet regulatory dust limits. A tri-polar grid of fi ne interdigitated traces has been designed that generates an electrostatic traveling wave for conveying dust particles to a “drain.” First trials with only two working electrodes have shown particle motion in optical microscope images.

The Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) tokamak (R = 0.88 m, a < 0.25 m, B < 1.54 T) programme is based on flexible plasma shaping and heating for studies of confinement, transport, control and power exhaust. Recent advances in fully sustained off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) scenarios have allowed the creation of plasmas with high bootstrap fraction, steady-state reversed central shear and an electron internal transport barrier. High elongation plasmas, kgr = 2.5, are produced at low normalized current using far off-axis electron cyclotron heating and ECCD to broaden the current profile. Third harmonic heating is used to heat the plasma centre where the second harmonic is in cut-off. Both second and third harmonic heating are used to heat H-mode plasmas, at the edge and centre, respectively. The ELM frequency is decreased by the additional power. In separate experiments, the ELM frequency can be affected by locking to an external perturbation current in the internal coils of TCV. Spatially resolved current profiles are measured at the inner and outer divertor targets by Langmuir probe arrays during ELMs. The strong, reasonably balanced currents are thought to be thermoelectric in origin.

Tokamak plasmas are routinely observed to rotate even in the absence of an externally applied torque. This ``intrinsic'' rotation exhibits several robust features, including rotation reversals with varying plasma density and current and rotation peaking at the transition from low confinement to high confinement regimes. Conservation of toroidal angular momentum dictates that the intrinsic rotation is determined by momentum redistribution within the plasma, which is dominated by turbulent transport. The turbulent momentum transport, and thus the intrinsic rotation profile, is driven by formally small effects that are usually neglected. We present a gyrokinetic theory that makes use of the smallness of the poloidal to total magnetic field ratio to self-consistently include the dominant effects driving intrinsic turbulent momentum transport in tokamaks. These effects (including slow radial profile variation, slow poloidal turbulence variation, and diamagnetic corrections to the equilibrium Maxwellian) have now been implemented in the local, delta-f gyrokinetic code GS2. We describe important features of the numerical implementation and show numerical results on intrinsic momentum transport that are qualitatively consistent with experimental rotation reversals.

A non-intrusive method for inducing a radial electric field (Er) based on electron ripple injection (ERI) is under development by the Princeton CDX-U group. Since Er is known to play an important role in the L-H and H-VH mode transition, it is therefore important to develop a non-intrusive tool to control the Er profile in tokamak plasmas. The present technique utilizes externally-applied local magnetic ripple fields to trap electrons at the edge, allowing them to penetrate towards the plasma center via ∇B and curvature drifts, causing the flux surfaces to charge up negatively. Electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is utilized to increase the trapped population and the electron drift velocity by raising the perpendicular energy of trapped electrons. The temperature anisotropy of resonant electrons in a tokamak plasma is calculated in order to investigate effects of ECRH on electrons. Simulations using a guiding-center orbit model have been performed to understand the behavior of suprathermal electrons in the presence of ripple fields. Examples for CDX-U and ITER are given.

Runaway electrons (RE) resulting from the violent termination of tokamak plasmas pose a serious threat to ITER due to the very high energies they can reach and deposit on the plasma facing components. Most of the current modelling of RE in fusion tokamak plasmas rely on reduced models such as the bounce-average and the test particle equations. In some scenarios, the radiation losses in these models might lead to uncertainties in the RE parameters that determine their confinement and energy limit. In order to study this in detail we have developed a new Kinetic Orbit Runaway electrons Code (KORC). KORC follows the dynamics of ensembles of relativistic electrons in the 6D phase space fully resolving gyro-motion under the influence of the Lorentz force, the Landau-Lifshiftz consistent formulation of the Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac force for radiation damping, and collisions with impurities and the background plasma. KORC is parallelized using open MP/MPI, and benefits from a modified relativistic leap-frog method along with an operator splitting scheme for solving the RE dynamics in different magnetic fields. The code is robust, conservative, and shows nearly linear strong scaling. Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy.

The behavior of magnetic islands with 3D electron temperature and the corresponding 3D resistivity effects on growth are examined for islands with near-zero net heating in the island interior. We refer to the resulting class of non-linearities as thermo-resistive effects. In particular, the effects of varying impurity mix on the previously proposed local island onset threshold [Gates and Delgado-Aparicio, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 165004 (2012)] are examined and shown to be consistent with the well established experimental scalings for tokamaks at the density limit. A surprisingly simple semi-analytic theory is developed which imposes the effects of heating/cooling in the island interior as well as the effects of island geometry. For the class of current profiles considered, it is found that a new term that accounts for the thermal effects of island asymmetry is required in the modified Rutherford equation. The resultant model is shown to exhibit a robust onset of a rapidly growing tearing mode—consistent with the disruption mechanism observed at the density limit in tokamaks. A fully non-linear 3D cylindrical calculation is performed that simulates the effect of net island heating/cooling by raising/suppressing the temperature in the core of the island. In both the analytic theory and the numerical simulation, the sudden threshold for rapid growth is found to be due to an interaction between three distinct thermal non-linearities which affect the island resistivity, thereby modifying the growth dynamics.

A remarkable degree of consistency of experimental results from tokamaks throughout the world has developed with regard to the phenomenology of the transition from L-mode to H-mode confinement in tokamaks. The transition is initiated in a narrow layer at the plasma periphery where density fluctuations are suppressed and steep gradients of temperature and density form in a region with large first and second radial derivatives in the {upsilon}{sub E}{sup {yields}} = (E {times} B)/B{sup 2} flow velocity. These results are qualitatively consistent with theories which predict suppression of fluctuations by shear or curvature in {upsilon}E. The required {upsilon}E flow is generated very rapidly when the magnitude of the heating power or of an externally imposed radial current exceed threshold values and several theoretical models have been developed to explain the observed changes in the {upsilon}E flow. After the transition occurs, the altered boundary conditions enable the development of improved confinement in the plasma interior on a confinement time scale. The resulting H-mode discharge has typically twice the confinement of L-mode discharges and regimes of further improved confinement have been obtained in some H-mode scenarios.

A fundamental requirement for the validity and accuracy of any large-scale computation is sufficiently well-resolved length and time scales relevant to the problem under study. Ironically, despite the enormous computational resources available today, poorly resolved length scales in sophisticated nonlinear calculations are not uncommon. Using the internal kink mode that is responsible for tokamak sawtooth oscillations as an example, consequences of not resolving in sufficient detail the linear and nonlinear layer widths of the resistive n = 1 mode and its nonlinear spectrum are examined. Poor radial and spectral resolution are shown to cause nonphysical, large-scale stochasticity that can be erroneously associated with a fast temperature collapse and sawtooth crash. With the assistance of a nonlinear mode coupling model, a sufficiently well-resolved toroidal spectrum is shown to require at least an order of magnitude more toroidal modes than is commonly used at dissipation levels relevant to today's tokamaks. A subgrid-scale model is introduced that helps with the spectral resolution problem by reducing the required number of degrees of freedom from that of a well-resolved direct numerical simulation.

The code SPECE has been developed for the analysis of electron cyclotron emission (ECE) in a general tokamak equilibrium. The code solves the radiation transport equation along the ray trajectories in a tokamak plasma, in which magnetic equilibrium and plasma profiles are given either analytically or numerically, for a Maxwellian plasma or a non thermal plasma characterized by a distribution function that is the sum of drifting Maxwellian distributions. Ray trajectories are computed making use of the cold dispersion relation, while the absorption and emission coefficients are obtained solving the relevant fully relativistic dispersion relation valid at high electron temperature. The actual antenna pattern is simulated by means of a multi-rays calculation, and the spatial resolution of the ECE measurements is computed by means of an algorithm that takes properly into account the emission along each ray of the beam. Wall effects are introduced in the code by means of a heuristic model. Results of ECE simulations in a standard ITER scenario are presented.

OAK A271 ECE RADIOMETER UPGRADE ON THE DIII-D TOKAMAK. The electron cyclotron emission (ECE) heterodyne radiometer diagnostic on DIII-D has been upgraded with the addition of eight channels for a total of 40. The new, higher frequency channels allow measurements of electron temperature into the magnetic axis in discharges at maximum field, 2.15 T. The complete set now extends over the full usable range of second harmonic emission frequencies at 2.0 T covering radii from the outer edge inward to the location of third harmonic overlap on the high field side. Full coverage permits the measurement of heat pulses and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuations on both sides of the magnetic axis. In addition, the symmetric measurements are used to fix the location of the magnetic axis in tokamak magnetic equilibrium reconstructions. Also, the new higher frequency channels have been used to determine central T{sub e} with good time resolution in low field, high density discharges using third harmonic ECE in the optically gray and optically thick regimes.

Electron cyclotron emission (ECE) measurements are an important component of the diagnostic suite on the Tokamak a Configuration Variable (TCV) [F. Hoffman et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 36, B277 (1994)]. A recently installed, 24-channel dual-conversion heterodyne radiometer covering the radio frequency range 65-100 GHz and viewing from the low-field side (LFS) of the tokamak greatly enhances the system and, in combination with an existing radiometer viewing from the high-field side (HFS), allows simultaneous measurements of emission from the HFS and LFS. In addition, the new radiometer has multiple lines of sight that can receive the emission perpendicular to the toroidal magnetic field as well as with a finite k{sub parallel} (wave vector parallel to magnetic field). Such flexibility allows the LFS radiometer to make standard measurements of thermal emission and nonstandard measurements of nonthermal, anisotropic emission. The toroidal line of sight allows access to overdense plasma via mode converted emission. The enhanced ECE diagnostic is described and examples of measurements made in various configurations are presented.

The preliminary conceptual design of a tokamak fissile fuel producer is described. The blanket technology is based on the fission suppressed breeding concept where neutron multiplication occurs in a bed of 2 cm diameter beryllium pebbles which are cooled by helium at 50 atmospheres pressure. Uranium-233 is bred in thorium metal fuel elements which are in the form of snap rings attached to each beryllium pebble. Tritium is bred in lithium bearing material contained in tubes immersed in the pebble bed and is recovered by a purge flow of helium. The neutron wall load is 3 MW/m/sup 2/ and the blanket material is ferritic steel. The net fissile breeding ratio is 0.54 +- 30% per fusion reaction. This results in the production of 4900 kg of /sup 233/U per year from 3000 MW of fusion power. This quantity of fuel will provide makeup fuel for about 12 LWRs of equal thermal power or about 18 1 GW/sub e/ LWRs. The calculated cost of the produced uranium-233 is between $23/g and $53/g or equivalent to $10/kg to $90/kg of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ depending on government financing or utility financing assumptions. Additional topics discussed in the report include the tokamak operating mode (both steady state and long pulse considered), the design and breeding implications of using a poloidal divertor for impurity control, reactor safety, the choice of a tritium breeder, and fuel management.

The appearance of hole currents in tokamaks seems to be very important in plasma confinement and on-set of instabilities, and this paper is devoted to study the topology changes of poloidal magnetic fields in tokamaks. In order to determine these fields different models for current profiles can be considered. It seems to us, that one of the best analytic descriptions is given by V. Yavorskij et al., which has been chosen for the calculations here performed. Suitable analytic equations for the family of magnetic field surfaces with triangularity and Shafranov shift are written down here. The topology of the magnetic field determines the amount of trapped particles in the generalized mirror type magnetic field configurations. Here it is found that the number of maximums and minimums of Bp depends mainly on triangularity, but the pattern is also depending of the existence or not of hole currents. Our calculations allow comparing the topology of configurations of similar parameters, but with and without whole currents. These differences are study for configurations with equal ellipticity but changing the triangularity parameters. Positive and negative triangularities are considered and compared between them.

In Ohmic divertor plasma discharges of the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak a small population of runaway electrons is purposely generated at the beginning of the discharge. About 1.5 s after the runaways` generation fluctuating emission in the microwave region with a very narrow bandwidth is observed. The radiation can be explained by relativistic runaway electrons forming a free-electron maser in the tokamak: The dynamics of the runaways is simulated by taking into account the acceleration in the electric field, collisions with the plasma particles, synchrotron radiation losses and the resonances between the gyromotion and harmonics of the magnetic ripple field. According to this the runaways reach a final energy determined by the ripple resonance mechanism and are monoenergetic enough to form a cyclotron autoresonance maser. The guiding of the radiation along the bent path of the runaways is accomplished by nearly resonant runaways around the amplifying runaways. The emission frequency depends on the final energy of the runaways and the observed bandwidth via the maser`s gain on their particle density. Analyzing the emitted fluctuating emission is thus a potentially new diagnostic for runaways. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

Plasma configurations with ellipticity and triangularity are usual in tokamak experiments. These plasmas can be studied using a new system of coordinates of recent publications. Here this method has been applied to study Alfven spectrum in axisymmetric tokamaks with different values of ellipticity and triangularity [1-3]. Previous authors have developed numerical methods to obtain the Alfven spectrum using the Shafranov-Solove'v equilibrium flux function where the parameter ellipticity is also included [3]. Here more general configurations are treated and compared with the results of these authors, as well as those derived for the geometric optics or WKBJ approximation. The Alfven wave dispersion relation is obtained by the linearization of the MHD equations around a stationary equilibrium and the results are obtained by numerical calculations. [1] P. Martin, M. G. Haines and E. Castro, Phys. Plasma 12, 082506 (2005) [2] L. L. Lao, S. P. Hishman and R. M. Wieland, Phys. Fluids 24, 1431 (1981); H. Weitzner's Appendix. [3] G. O. Ludwig, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 37, 633 (1995) [4] S. Novo, M. N'uñez and J. Rojo, Phys. Fluids B 3, 2967 (1991)

The charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) diagnostics on the T-10 tokamak is described. The system is based on a diagnostic neutral beam and includes three high etendue spectrometers designed for the ITER edge CXRS system. A combined two-channel spectrometer is developed for simultaneous measurements of two beam-induced spectral lines using the same lines of sight. A basic element of the combined spectrometer is a transmitting holographic grating designed for the narrow spectral region 5291 ± 100 Å. The whole CXRS system provides simultaneous measurements of two CXRS impurity spectra and Hα beam line. Ion temperature measurements are routinely provided using the C(6+) CXRS spectral line 5291 Å. Simultaneous measurements of carbon densities and one more impurity (oxygen, helium, lithium etc.) are carried out. Two light collecting systems with 9 lines of sight in each system are used in the diagnostics. Spatial resolution is up to 2.5 cm and temporal resolution of 1 ms is defined by the diagnostic neutral beam diameter and pulse duration, respectively. Experimental results are shown to demonstrate a wide range of the CXRS diagnostic capabilities on T-10 for investigation of impurity transport processes in tokamak plasma. Developed diagnostics provides necessary experimental data for studying of plasma electric fields, heat and particle transport processes, and for investigation of geodesic acoustic modes.

A new fast reciprocating probe system (FRPS) has been built and installed on the outer midplane of the EAST tokamak to investigate the profiles of the boundary plasma parameters such as electron density and temperature. The system consists of a two-stage motion drive mechanism: slow motion and fast motion. The fast motion is powered by a servo motor, which drives the probe horizontally up to 50 cm to scan the edge region of the EAST tokamak. The maximum velocity achieved is 2 m/s. High velocity and flexible control of the fast motion are the remarkable features of this FRPS. A specially designed connector installed at the front end of the probe shaft makes it easy to install or replace the probe head on FRPS. During the latest experimental campaign in the spring of 2010, a probe head with seven tips, including two tips for a Mach probe, has been used. An example is given for simultaneous profile measurements of the plasma temperature, plasma density, and the plasma flow velocity.

Power generation in the next decades could be provided by thermo-nuclear fusion reactors like tokamaks. There inside, the fusion reaction takes place thanks to the generation of plasmas at hundreds of millions of degrees that must be confined magnetically with superconductive coils, cooled down to 4.4K. The plasma works cyclically and the coil system is subjected to pulsed heat load which has to be handled by the refrigerator. By smoothing the variable loads, the refrigerator capacity can be set close to the average power; optimizing investment and operational costs. Within the “Broader Approach agreement” related to ITER project, CEA (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives) is in charge of providing the cryogenic system for the Japanese tokamak (JT-60SA), that is currently under construction in Naka. The system has been designed to handle the pulsed heat loads. To prepare the acceptance tests of the cryogenic system foreseen in 2016, both dynamic modelling and experimental tests on a scaled down mock-up are of high interest for assessing pulsed load smoothing control. After explaining HELIOS (HElium Loop for hIgh lOad Smoothing) operating modes, a dynamic model is presented, with results on the pulsed heat load scenarios. All the simulations have been performed with EcosimPro® and the associated cryogenic library CRYOLIB.

The Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX) is a spherical tokamak with R0 = 0.4m, a = 0.26m, BTF ~ 3.4kG, IP ~ 400kA, and pulse length ~ 0.25s. The focus of LTX is to investigate the novel, low-recycling Lithium Wall operating regime for magnetically confined plasmas. This regime is reached by placing an in-vessel shell conformal to the plasma last closed flux surface. The shell is heated and then coated with liquid lithium. An extensive array of magnetic diagnostics is available to characterize the experiment, including 80 Mirnov coils (single and double-axis, internal and external to the shell), 34 flux loops, 3 Rogowskii coils, and a diamagnetic loop. Diagnostics are specifically located to account for the presence of a secondary conducting surface and engineered to withstand both high temperatures and incidental contact with liquid lithium. The diagnostic set is therefore fabricated from robust materials with heat and lithium resistance and is designed for electrical isolation from the shell and to provide the data required for highly constrained equilibrium reconstructions.

The objective of advanced tokamak scenario research is to provide a candidate plasma scenario for continuous operation in a fusion power plant. The optimization of the self-generated non-inductive current by the bootstrap mechanism up to a level of 50% and above using high plasma pressure and improved confinement are the necessary conditions to achieve this goal. The two main candidate scenarios for continuous operation, the steady state scenario and long duration (up to 3000 s) high neutron fluency scenario (the hybrid scenario), both face physics challenges in terms of confinement, stability, power exhaust and plasma control. Resistive wall modes and Alfvénic fast ion driven instabilities are the main limitations for operating the steady state scenario at high pressure and low magnetic shear. In addition, this scenario demands a high degree of control over the plasma current and pressure profile and the steady state heat load on in-vessel plasma facing components. Understanding the confinement properties of hybrid scenario is still an outstanding issue as well as its modelling for ITER in particular with regard to the H-mode pedestal parameters. This scenario will also require active current profile control, although, less demanding than for the steady state scenario. To operate advanced tokamak scenario, broad current and pressure profile control appears as a necessary requirement on ITER actuators, in addition to the tools required for instability control such as error field coils or electron cyclotron current drive.

Fishbone is ubiquitous in tokamak plasmas with fast ions. A numerical study of nonlinear dynamics of fishbone has been carried out in this work. Realistic parameters of NSTX are used to understand instability and nonlinear frequency chirping in tokamak plasmas. First, the effects of shear toroidal rotation are considered for fishbone instability. It's shown that with low qmin, it has small effects on the mode; while with high qmin, a new unstable region with a strong ballooning feature in mode structure appears. Second, a detailed study of nonlinear frequency chirping and energetic particles' dynamics is carried out. Linearly, the mode is driven by both trapped and passing particles, with dresonance condition ωd ~= ω for trapped particles and ωϕ +ωθ ~= ω for passing particles. As the mode grows, resonance particles oscillate and move outward in Pϕ space, which reduces particles' frequency. We believe that this is the main reason for the mode frequency chirping down. Finally, as the mode frequency chirping down, particles with lower orbit frequencies, which are non-resonant linearly, can turn into resonant particles in the nonlinear regime. This effect can sustain a quasi-steady state mode amplitude.

The dynamics of suprathermal electrons in the presence of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) activity and the excitation of MHD modes by suprathermal electrons are studied experimentally to improve the understanding of the interaction of fast particles with MHD instabilities in a tokamak. The study focuses on three different aspects of the internal kink mode with poloidal/toroidal mode number m/n=1/1 : the sawtooth instability, electron fishbones and coupled bursts alternating with sawtooth crashes (CAS), all located where the safety factor (q) profile approaches or takes the value q=1 . New quantitative results on suprathermal electron transport and an investigation of electron acceleration during sawtooth crashes are followed by the characterization of initial electron fishbone observations on the Tokamak à configuration variable (TCV). Finally, m/n=1/1 bursts associated with the sawtooth cycle, coupled to a persisting m/n=2/1 mode and alternating with sawtooth crashes, are discussed, in particular in view of the fast electron dynamics and their role in confinement degradation and mode excitation.

A series of experiments and numerical calculations have been done on the Damavand tokamak for accurate determination of equilibrium parameters, such as the plasma boundary position and shape. For this work, the pickup coils of the Damavand tokamak were recalibrated and after that a plasma boundary shape identification code was developed for analyzing the experimental data, such as magnetic probes and coils currents data. The plasma boundary position, shape and other parameters are determined by the plasma shape identification code. A free-boundary equilibrium code was also generated for comparison with the plasma boundary shape identification results and determination of required fields to obtain elongated plasma in the Damavand tokamak.

A theory-based scaling for the characteristic length of a circular, limited tokamak scrape-off layer (SOL) is obtained by considering the balance between parallel losses and non-linearly saturated resistive ballooning mode turbulence driving anomalous perpendicular transport. The SOL size increases with plasma size, resistivity, and safety factor q. The scaling is verified against flux-driven non-linear turbulence simulations, which reveal good agreement within a wide range of dimensionless parameters, including parameters closely matching the TCV tokamak. An initial comparison of the theory against experimental data from several tokamaks also yields good agreement.

OAK A271 NEXT-GENERATION PLASMA CONTROL IN THE DIII-D TOKAMAK. The advanced tokamak (AT) operating mode which is the principal focus of the DIII-D tokamak requires highly integrated and complex plasma control. Simultaneous high performance regulation of the plasma boundary and internal profiles requires multivariable control techniques to account for the highly coupled influences of equilibrium shape, profile, and stability control. This paper describes progress towards the DIII-D At mission goal through both significantly improved real-time computational hardware and control algorithm capability.

Two symmetries of the local nonlinear {delta}f gyrokinetic system of equations in tokamaks in the high flow regime are presented. The turbulent transport of toroidal angular momentum changes sign under an up-down reflection of the tokamak and a sign change of both the rotation and the rotation shear. Thus, the turbulent transport of toroidal angular momentum must vanish for up-down symmetric tokamaks in the absence of both rotation and rotation shear. This has important implications for the modeling of spontaneous rotation.

The effects of energetic particles are of interest since fast ions are present in neutral-beam and rf-heated tokamaks and will occur in ignition devices in the form of alpha particles. Moreover, it may be desirable to create such particles by auxiliary heating in order to exploit their stabilizing properties and thus attain a high beta plasma. Here a range of issues related to the stabilization of MHD ballooning modes in tokamaks by using energetic particles is investigated analytically and numerically. The presence of a highly energetic plasma component can stabilize MHD ballooning modes in tokamaks and may allow direct access to the high-beta second stability regime. Here, an improved estimate of such stability has been obtained, in the large-aspect-ratio circular limit, by means of a variational refinement of the lower bound for the energetic particle potential energy. We also investigate the effect of various profiles for the hot particle pressure on stability, and we explore the stability of off-angle modes. Moderately energetic particles, however, can destabilize the plasma through resonant interaction at their curvature drift fre- quency. We study these so-called "balloon-bone" modes, using a delta function model for their resonant response. The complete forms of the Mercier solutions in the MHD region are obtained analytically and numerically. Matched onto the inertia layer, these solutions give a dispersion relation valid for finite shear and poloidal beta values, which then is analyzed by the Nyquist technique. Results are presented for the limit in which Alfvenic effects are negligible, namely, (,)(omega)(,dh) << (omega)(,A), where (,)(omega)(,dh) is the curvature drift frequency and (omega)(,A) is the Alfven frequency, and in which the energetic particles are modeled with a slowing-down distribution in energy. Finally, even if the ideal modes and resonantly -excited modes can be simultaneously stabilized, resistive ballooning instabilities may persist

We are pursuing a cross-benchmarking and validation initiative for tokamak 3D equilibrium calculations, with 11 codes participating: the linearized tokamak equilibrium codes IPEC and MARS-F, the time-dependent extended MHD codes M3D-C1, M3D, and NIMROD, the gyrokinetic code XGC, as well as the stellarator codes VMEC, NSTAB, PIES, HINT and SPEC. Dedicated experiments for the purpose of generating data for validation have been done on the DIII-D tokamak. The data will allow us to do validation simultaneously with cross-benchmarking. Initial cross-benchmarking calculations are finding a disagreement between stellarator and tokamak 3D equilibrium codes. Work supported in part by U.S. DOE under Contracts DE-ACO2-09CH11466, DE-FC02-04E854698, DE-FG02-95E854309 and DE-AC05-000R22725.

Attaining the highest performance in poloidally diverted tokamaks requires resonant magnetic perturbation coils to avoid core instabilities (locked, resistive wall and neoclassical tearing modes). These coils also perturb the pedestal and edge region, causing varying degrees of stochasticity with remnant islands. The effects of the DIII-D locked mode control coil on the edge and core of Ohmic plasmas are modeled with the field line integration code TRIP3D and compared with experimental measurements. Without detailed profile analysis and field line integration, it is difficult to establish whether a given response is due to a ''core mode'' or an ''edge stochastic boundary.'' In diverted Ohmic plasmas, the boundary stochastic layer displays many characteristics associated with such layers in non-diverted tokamaks. Comparison with stochastic boundary results from non-diverted tokamaks indicates that a significant difference in diverted tokamaks is a ''focusing'' of the magnetic field line loss into the vicinity of the divertor.

Lessons from the four-year ARIES (Advanced Reactor Innovation and Evaluation Study) investigation of a number of commercial magnetic-fusion-energy (MFE) power-plant embodiments of the tokamak are summarized. These lessons apply to physics, engineering and technology, and environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) characteristics of projected tokamak power plants. Summarized herein are the composite conclusions and lessons developed in the course of four conceptual tokamak power-plant designs. A general conclusion from this extensive investigation of the commercial potential of tokamak power plants is the need for combined, symbiotic advances in both physics, engineering, and materials before economic competitiveness with developing advanced energy sources can be realized. Advances in materials are also needed for the exploitation of environmental advantages otherwise inherent in fusion power.

The distribution function of runaway electrons in a tokamak can be determined in the slightly relativistic region from measurements of the absorption coefficient corresponding to electron cyclotron waves. The plasma should be probed in the vertical direction.

Zonal flows, initially driven by ion-temperature-gradient turbulence, may evolve due to the neoclassic polarization in a collisionless tokamak plasma. In our previous work [D. Zhou, Nucl. Fusion 54, 042002 (2014)], the residual zonal flow in a tokamak plasma rotating toroidally at sonic speed is found to have the same form as that of a static plasma. In the present work, the form of the residual zonal flow is presented for tokamak plasmas rotating toroidally at arbitrary velocity. The gyro-kinetic equation is analytically solved for low speed rotation to give the expression of residual zonal flows, and the expression is then generalized for cases with arbitrary rotating velocity through interpolation. The zonal flow level decreases as the rotating velocity increases. The numerical evaluation is in good agreement with the former simulation result for high aspect ratio tokamaks.

A new Thomson scattering diagnostic has been designed and is currently being installed on the COMPASS tokamak in IPP Prague in the Czech Republic. The requirements for this system are very stringent with approximately 3 mm spatial resolution at the plasma edge. A critical part of this diagnostic is the laser source. To achieve the specified parameters, a multilaser solution is utilized. Two 30 Hz 1.5 J Nd:YAG laser systems, used at the fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm, are located outside the tokamak area at a distance of 20 m from the tokamak. The design of the laser beam transport path is presented. The approach leading to a final choice of optimal focusing optics is given. As well as the beam path to the tokamak, a test path of the same optical length was built. Performance tests of the laser system carried out using the test path are described.

This project was a collaboration between researchers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Irvine to investigate the utility of a global field-aligned mesh and gyrokinetic field solver for simulations of the tokamak plasma edge region. Mesh generation software from UC Irvine was tested with specific tokamak edge magnetic geometry scenarios and the quality of the meshes and the solutions to the gyrokinetic Poisson equation were evaluated.

Artificial neural networks are trained to forecast the plasma disruption in HL-2A tokamak. Optimized network architecture is obtained. Saliency analysis is made to assess the relative importance of different diagnostic signals as network input. The trained networks can successfully detect the disruptive pulses of HL-2A tokamak. The results obtained show the possibility of developing a neural network predictor that intervenes well in advance for avoiding plasma disruption or mitigating its effects.

Coherent magnetohydrodynamic modes have been observed during neutral beam injection in TFTR and JET. Periodic bursts of oscillations were detected with several plasma diagnostics, and Fokker-Planck calculations show that the populations of trapped particles in both tokamaks are sufficient to account for fishbone destabilization. Estimates of mode parameters are in reasonable agreement with the experiments, and they indicate that the fishbone mode may continue to affect the performance of intensely heated tokamaks. 13 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.

The spatial and temporal structures of magnetic signal in the tokamak is analyzed using recently developed singular value decomposition (SVD) technique to determine the structure of current perturbation as the discharge progresses. In this work we use SVD technique for that purpose in IR-T1 tokamak.ootnotetextC. Nardonet, ``Multichannel Fluctuation Data Analysis By The Singular Value Decomposition Method Application To MHD Modes In Jet,'' Plasma Physics & Controlled Fusion, V. 34, No. 9, 1992, 1447-1465

This paper discusses advantages and disadvantages of different locations of co-wound voltage sensors for quench detection in tokamak magnets with a cable-in-conduit conductor. The voltage sensor locations are analyzed and estimates of the anticipated noise vs. dB/dt are derived for transverse, parallel, and self fields. The LLNL Noise Rejection Experiment, also described here, is designed to verify theoretical expectations on a copper cable exposed to these fields that will simulate the tokamak field environment.

Adequate control of the position of the plasma column within the STOR-M tokamak is a chief requirement in order for experimental quality discharges to be obtained. Optimal control over tokamak discharge parameters, including the plasma position, is very difficult to achieve. This is due in large part to the difficulty in modelling the tokamak discharge parameters, as they are highly nonlinear and time varying in nature. The difficulty of modelling the tokamak discharge parameters suggests that a control system, such as a fuzzy logic based controller, which does not require a system model may be well suited to the control of fusion plasma. In order to improve the quality of control over the plasma position within the STOR-M tokamak, the existing analog PID controller was modified. These modifications facilitate the application of a digital controller by a personal computer via the Advantech PCL-711B data acquisition card. The performance of the modified plasma position controller and an Arbitrary Signal Generator developed by the author was evaluated. This modified plasma position controller was applied successfully to the STOR-M tokamak during both normal mode and A.C. mode operation. In both cases, the modified controller provided adequate control over the position of the plasma column within the discharge chamber. Furthermore, the modified controller was more convenient to optimize than the original, existing analog PID controller. By taking advantage of the modifications that were made to the plasma position controller, a fuzzy logic controller was developed by the author. The fuzzy logic based plasma position controller was also successfully applied to the STOR-M tokamak during both normal mode and A.C. operation. The fuzzy controller was demonstrated to reliably provide a higher degree of control over the position of the plasma column within the STOR-M tokamak than the modified PID controller.

The present status of modeling TF ripple loss of fast alphas from tokamaks is summarized. The modeling issues are discussed, and several new aspects of this problem are described, including gyromotion, radial electric field, and sawtoothing. Existing models predict that TF ripple loss of fast alphas will have a low-to-moderate impact on the design of a tokamak engineering test reactor (ETR). 52 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.

The spectrum of silver emitted by Princeton Large Torus (PLT) tokamak plasmas has been recorded in the 25 to 150 A region by a multichannel time-resolving grazing-incidence spectrometer. Silver atoms have been introduced in the tokamak plasma using the laser blow-off technique. For the first time, lines emitted within the 3p-3d transitions of Ag XXIX, Ag XXX, and Ag XXXI ions, between 50 and 80 A, have been identified.

The objectives of the Fusion Research Center Program are: (1) to advance /the transport studies of tokamaks, including the development and maintenance of the Magnetic Fusion Energy Database, and (2) to provide theoretical interpretation, modeling and equilibrium and stability studies for the text-upgrade tokamak. Work is described on five basic categories: (1) magnetic fusion energy database; (2) computational support and numerical modeling; (3) support for TEXT-upgrade and diagnostics; (4) transport studies; and (5) Alfven waves.

This paper explores the equilibrium and transient transport properties of a mixed magnetic topology model for tokamak equilibria. The magnetic topology is composed of a discrete set of mostly non-overlapping magnetic islands centered on the low-order rational surfaces. Transport across the island regions is fast due to parallel transport along the stochastic magnetic field lines about the separatrix of each island. Transport between island regions is assumed to be slow due to a low residual cross-field transport. In equilibrium, such a model leads to: a nonlinear dependence of the heat flux on the pressure gradient; a power balance diffusion coefficient which increases from core to edge; and profile resiliency. Transiently, such a model also exhibits a heat pulse diffusion coefficient larger than the power balance diffusion coefficient.

The Mirnov magnetic coils system for the TCABR was recently reconstructed. The most interesting aspect of this system is that the measured experimental signals already incorporate the influence of the toroidal geometry. This means that the usual fast Fourier transform analysis done on the magnetic experimental data is able to indicate, more precisely and in a straightforward way, the MHD mode contribution to the detected signals during a plasma discharge. The influence of the toroidal geometry on the Fourier analysis of the magnetic signals was investigated by carring a series of simulations, considering the Merezhkin correction expressed only as a function of the inverse of the tokamak aspect ratio (calculated at the position of interest). The results obtained clearly showed the existence of a phase modulation on the Mirnov signals which is not usually considered when the magnetic signals are Fourier analyzed in the frame of cylindrical approximation, that is, by neglecting the existing toroidal effect.

Gamma ray diagnostics has been developed in the EAST tokamak recently. Six BGO scintillator detectors are arranged on the down-half cross-section and pointed at the up-half cross-section of plasma, with space resolution about 15 cm and energy range from 0.3 MeV to 6 MeV. Three main gamma ray peaks in the energy spectra have been observed and are identified as the results of nuclear reactions 207Pb(n, n')207mPb, H(n, γ) D, and D(p, γ)3He, respectively. Upgrading of the system is in progress by using LaBr3(Ce) scintillator, fast photo-multiplier tubes, and a fully digital data acquisition system based on high sample frequency digitizers with digital pulse processing algorithms.

In spite of the fact that fusion is a subject of the study for many years, there are still a lot of open questions. One of the interesting topics in fusion research is a presence of dust grains in reactors. In the paper, dust grains born in tokamak Compass are studied and compared with samples of a spherical geometry and well known composition. A unique experimental setup was used for investigations of charging properties of such grains and the SEM and EDX spectroscopy was applied for a study of grain composition. We focus on the secondary emission because this process plays a prominent role when a portion of energetic electrons is present in surroundings of a particular grain. It was shown that depending on the grain size and material, energetic electrons charge the grains to positive potentials comparable with the energy of impinging electrons.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationships between transport properties such as thermal diffusivity and resistivity on the one hand, and the magnetic properties such as q profile and toroidal flux change on the other, in tokamaks that exist under macroscopically quasistationary conditions. It is experimentally well established that when the sources are held constant over times long compared with energy and particle confinement times, tokamak discharges can exist in a quasistationary state with or without periodic sawteeth superposed on the basic equilibrium. The principal aim of this study is to provide qualitative physical insight into the nature of such states. For simplicity, single-fluid equations are assumed and the analysis is restricted to a cylinder model. The complete set of conservation equations comprising continuity, pressure balance, Ohm's law, and energy balance are used along with appropriate sources. The conductive energy loss is assumed to occur due to an anomalous thermal diffusivity. Following earlier time-dependent studies of tokamak transport phenomenology due to the authors [Haas and Thyagaraja, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 28, 1093 (1986)], the friction force in the generalized Ohm's law is assumed to be described by an effective resistivity tensor with its principal axes in the poloidal and toroidal directions. The toroidal resistivity is taken to be of order Spitzer while the poloidal component ηθ is assumed to be anomalously large compared with ηz. A range of phenomena involving Ohmic discharges, auxiliary heated discharges, and noninductively driven currents is investigated. Attention is drawn to the joint implications of the conservation laws and the general forms of the constitutive relations for the structure of the profiles and conditions for the existence of equilibria. In particular, it is shown that βp>1 is achievable in macroscopically steady conditions, only if a sufficiently strong particle

A tritium pellet injector (TPI) system has been designed for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) Q approx. 1 phase of operation. The injector gun utilizes a radial design with eight independent barrels and a common extruder to minimize tritium inventory. The injection line contains guide tubes with intermediate vacuum pumping stations and fast valves to minimize propellant leakage to the torus. The vacuum system is designed for tritium compatibility. The entire injector system is contained in a glove box for secondary containment protection against tritium release. Failure modes and effects have been analyzed, and structural analysis has been performed for most intense predicted earthquake conditions. Details of the design and operation of this system are presented in this paper.

The Greenwald density limit, found in all tokamak experiments, is reproduced for the first time using a phenomenologically correct model with parameters in the range of experiments. A simple model of equilibrium evolution and local power balance inside the island has been implemented to calculate the radiation-driven thermo-resistive tearing mode growth and explain the density limit. Strong destabilization of the tearing mode due to an imbalance of local Ohmic heating and radiative cooling in the island predicts the density limit within a few percent. The density limit is found to be a local edge limit and weakly dependent on impurity densities. Results are robust to a substantial variation in model parameters within the range of experiments.

Using a straight-column model to describe tokamak plasma with a noncircular cross section, it is shown how to (i) find the boundary of tearing instability from the condition of existence of a magnetohydrodynamic plasma equilibrium different from that of a straight cylinder by solving a two-dimensional linear boundary-value problem with a second-order equation with respect to the flux coordinate and (ii) find the spatial structure of the tearing mode and the corresponding effective Δ' when there is only one resonance magnetic surface in the plasma for a given axial wavenumber by solving some kind of a boundary-value problem for the perturbation. The proposed approach is illustrated by numerical calculations for the case of an elliptical cross section as an example.

Neoclassical bootstrap current is expected to provide a significant fraction of the equilibrium plasma current in tokamak reactors. Here we report a novel mechanism through which a bootstrap current may be driven even in a collisionless plasma. In analogy with the neoclassical mechanism, in which the collisional equilibrium established between trapped and passing electrons produces a steady state current, we show that resonant scattering of electrons by drift wave microturbulence provides an additional means of determining the equilibrium between trapped and passing electrons and thus driving a bootstrap current. Employing a linearized Fokker-Planck collision operator, the plasma current in the presence of both collisions and resonant electron scattering is computed, allowing for the relative strength of these two mechanisms to be quantified as a function of collisionality and fluctuation amplitude.

The momentum conservation for resonant wave-particle interactions, now proven rigorously and for general settings, is applied to explain in simple terms how tokamak plasma is spun up by the wave momentum perpendicular to the dc magnetic field. The perpendicular momentum is passed through resonant particles to the dc field and, giving rise to the radial electric field, is accumulated as a Poynting flux; the bulk plasma is then accelerated up to the electric drift velocity proportional to that flux, independently of collisions. The presence of this collisionless acceleration mechanism permits varying the ratio of the average kinetic momentum absorbed by the resonant-particle and bulk distributions depending on the orientation of the wave vector. Both toroidal and poloidal forces are calculated, and a fluid model is presented that yields the plasma velocity at equilibrium.

Four different techniques for the fast analysis of multichannel data in plasma physics are discussed. All four of these techniques are general and sufficiently fast to be used in real time applications. Function parametrization, canonical correlation analysis and a neural network of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) type are compared with a unique linear mapping based on a singular value decomposition, which is used as a reference. Applications deal with the identification of the plasma boundary and some global plasma parameters in the DIII-D and the Tore Supra tokamaks by using magnetic measurements. The results of an MLP-1 neural network, employed for the real time plasma position determination in Tore Supra, are presented

A vibration compensation interferometer (wavelength at 0.532 μm) has been designed and tested for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). It is designed as a sub-system for EAST far-infrared (wavelength at 432.5 μm) poloarimeter/interferometer system. Two Acoustic Optical Modulators have been applied to produce the 1 MHz intermediate frequency. The path length drift of the system is lower than 2 wavelengths within 10 min test, showing the system stability. The system sensitivity has been tested by applying a periodic vibration source on one mirror in the system. The vibration is measured and the result matches the source period. The system is expected to be installed on EAST by the end of 2014.

The HYFIRE studies to date have investigated a number of technical approaches for using the thermal energy produced in a high-temperature Tokamak blankets to provide the electrical and thermal energy required to drive a high-temperature ( 1000 C) water electrolysis process. Current emphasis is on two design points, one consistent with electrolyzer peak inlet temperatures of approximately 1300 C, which is an extrapolation of present experience, and one consistent with a peak electrolyzer temperature of 1100 C. This latter condition is based on current laboratory experience with high-temperature solid electrolyte fuel cells. Our major conclusion to date is that the technical integration of fusion and high-temperature electrolysis appears to be feasible and that overall hydrogen production efficiencies of 50 to 55% seem possible.

The development of a system for using the thermal energy produced in a high-temperature Tokamak blanket to provide the electrical and thermal energy required to drive a high temperature water electrolysis process is described. Emphasis is on two design points, one consistent with electrolyzer peak inlet temperatures of 1400 C, which is an extrapolation of present experience, and one consistent with a peak electrolyzer temperature of 1100 C. This latter condition is based on laboratory experience with high temperature solid electrolyte fuel cells. A major conclusion is that the technical integration of fusion and high temperature electrolysis appears to be feasible and that overall hydrogen production efficiencies of 50 to 55% seem possible.

A Doppler reflectometer system has recently been installed in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting (EAST) Tokamak. It includes two separated systems, one for Q-band (33-50 GHz) and the other for V-band (50-75 GHz). The optical system consists of a flat mirror and a parabolic mirror which are optimized to improve the spectral resolution. A synthesizer is used as the source and a 20 MHz single band frequency modulator is used to get a differential frequency for heterodyne detection. Ray tracing simulations are used to calculate the scattering location and the perpendicular wave number. In EAST last experimental campaign, the Doppler shifted signals have been obtained and the radial profiles of the perpendicular propagation velocity during L-mode and H-mode are calculated.

Effects of anisotropy on the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) are analyzed by using gyro-kinetic equations applicable to low-frequency microinstabilities in a toroidally rotating tokamak plasma. Dispersion relation in the presence of arbitrary Mach number M, anisotropy strength σ, and the temperature ration τ is analytically derived. It is shown that when σ is less than 3 + 2τ, the increased electron temperature with fixed ion parallel temperature increases the normalized GAM frequency. When σ is larger than 3 + 2τ, the increasing of electron temperature decreases the GAM frequency. The anisotropy σ always tends to enlarge the GAM frequency. The Landau damping rate is dramatically decreased by the increasing τ or σ.

The DIII-D tokamak uses a central clock source and trigger system to synchronize plant operations and diagnostics. The system uses a bi-phase encoding technique to send both clock and trigger signals to remote receivers, and supports both pre-programmed sequences of triggers as well as event-driven triggers. A 1 MHz timebase is used and triggers are encoded as eight-bit hexadecimal words. Currently, the system relies on a cascaded series of CAMAC-based delay generators to produce the trigger sequence. We present a modern and more versatile implementation based on a single FPGA (field programmable gate array) capable of providing clock rates upward of 100 MHz while maintaining compatibility with existing equipment. A proposal for system clock synchronization with GPS for improved precision is also presented. Work supported in part by US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698 and the National Undergraduate Fellowship in Fusion Science and Engineering.

A linear gyrokinetic system for arbitrary wavelength electromagnetic modes is developed. A wide range of modes in inhomogeneous plasmas, such as the internal kink modes, the toroidal Alfvén eigenmode (TAE) modes, and the drift modes, can be recovered from this system. The inclusion of most of the interesting physical factors into a single framework enables us to look at many familiar modes simultaneously and thus to study the modifications of and the interactions between them in a systematic way. Especially, we are able to investigate self-consistently the kinetic MHD phenomena entirely from the kinetic side. Phase space Lagrangian Lie perturbation methods and a newly developed computer algebra package for vector analysis in general coordinate system are utilized in the analytical derivation. In tokamak geometries, a 2D finite element code has been developed and tested. In this paper, we present the basic theoretical formalism and some of the preliminary results.

Detailed simulations of the Compact Ignition Tokamak are carried out using a 1-1/2-D transport code. The calculations include time-varying densities, fields, and plasma shape. It is shown that ignition can be achieved in this device if somewhat better than L-mode energy confinement time scaling is possible. We also conclude that the performance of such a compact, short-pulse device can depend greatly on how the plasma is evolved to its flat-top parameters. Furthermore, in cases such as the ones discussed here, where there is not a great deal of ignition margin and the electron density is held constant, ignition ends if the helium ash is not removed. In general, control of the deuterium--tritium density is equivalent to burn control. 48 refs., 15 figs.

In the KSTAR Tokamak, a “Tangential Thomson Scattering” (TTS) diagnostic system has been designed and installed to measure electron density and temperature profiles. In the edge system, TTS has 12 optical fiber bundles to measure the edge profiles with 10–15 mm spatial resolution. These 12 optical fibers and their spatial resolution are not enough to measure the pedestal width with a high accuracy but allow observations of L-H transition or H-L transitions at the edge. For these measurements, the prototype ITER edge Thomson Nd:YAG laser system manufactured by JAEA in Japan is installed. In this paper, the KSTAR TTS system is briefly described and some TTS edge profiles are presented and compared against the KSTAR Charge Exchange Spectroscopy and other diagnostics. The future upgrade plan of the system is also discussed in this paper.

In this study, the first 4D (axisymmetric) high-order continuum gyrokinetic transport simulations that span the magnetic separatrix of a tokamak are presented. The modeling is performed with the COGENT code, which is distinguished by fourth-order finite-volume discretization combined with mapped multiblock grid technology to handle the strong anisotropy of plasmatransport and the complex X-point divertor geometry with high accuracy. The calculations take into account the effects of fully nonlinear Fokker-Plank collisions, electrostatic potential variations, and anomalous radial transport. Topics discussed include: (a) ion orbit loss and the associated toroidal rotation and (b) edge plasma relaxation in the presence of anomalousmore » radial transport.« less

Vertical poloidal asymmetries of carbon and oxygen in the PDX Tokamak were monitored under a variety of discharge conditions in circular plasmas. Near the edge of the plasma and in the region beyond the limiter, the asymmetries appear to be caused by local impurity recycling, variations in the length of the emitting region, and effects due to vertical ion drifts. In the case of C V impurities, the sign and magnitude of the asymmetry is in qualitative agreement with the predictions of a quasi-neoclassical fluid model of impurity transport. A two dimensional computer code is used to simulate different models of poloidal asymmetries, including: (1) poloidally asymmetric source function, (2) charge exchange recombination with neutral hydrogen, (3) poloidally asymmetric electron ensity and temperature profiles, (4) poloidally varying anomalous radial diffusion coefficient, and (5) the quasi-neoclassical fluid model.

A simple zero dimensional model for a tokamak disruption is developed to evaluate the avalanche multiplication of a runaway primary seed during the current quench phase of a fast disruptive event. Analytical expressions for the plateau runaway current, the energy of the runaway beam, and the runaway energy distribution function are obtained allowing the identification of the parameters dominating the formation of the runaway current during disruptions. The effect of the electromagnetic coupling to the vessel and the penetration of the external magnetic energy during the disruption current quench as well as of the collisional dissipation of the runaway current at high densities are investigated. Current profile shape effects during the formation of the runaway beam are also addressed by means of an upgraded one-dimensional model.

We investigate the \\boldsymbol{E}× \\boldsymbol{B} diffusion of fusion born α particles in tokamak plasmas. We determine the transport regimes for a realistic model that has the characteristics of the ion temperature gradient (ITG) or of the trapped electron mode (TEM) driven turbulence. It includes a spectrum of potential fluctuations that is modeled using the results of the numerical simulations, the drift of the potential with the effective diamagnetic velocity and the parallel motion. Our semi-analytical statistical approach is based on the decorrelation trajectory method (DTM), which is adapted to the gyrokinetic approximation. We obtain the transport coefficients as a function of the parameters of the turbulence and of the energy of the α particles. According to our results, significant turbulent transport of the α particles can appear only at energies of the order of 100 KeV. We determine the corresponding conditions.

A 3D two-fluid global code, namely Global Braginskii Solver (GBS), is being developed to explore the physics of turbulent transport, confinement, self-consistent profile formation, pedestal scaling and related phenomena in the edge region of tokamaks. Aimed at solving drift-reduced Braginskii equations [1] in complex magnetic geometry, the GBS is used for turbulence simulation in SOL region. In the recent upgrade, the simulation domain is expanded into close flux region with twist-shift boundary conditions. Hence, the new GBS code is able to explore global transport physics in an annular full-torus domain from the top of the pedestal into the far SOL. We are in the process of identifying and analyzing the linear and nonlinear instabilities in the system using the new GBS code. Preliminary results will be presented and compared with other codes if possible.[4pt] [1] A. Zeiler, J. F. Drake and B. Rogers, Phys. Plasmas 4, 2134 (1997)

By choosing appropriate deformed Maxwellian ion and electron distribution functions depending on the two particle constants of motion, i.e., the energy and toroidal angular momentum, we reduce the Vlasov axisymmetric equilibrium problem for quasineutral plasmas to a transcendental Grad-Shafranov-like equation. This equation is then solved numerically under the Dirichlet boundary condition for an analytically prescribed boundary possessing a lower X-point to construct tokamak equilibria with toroidal sheared ion flow and anisotropic pressure. Depending on the deformation of the distribution functions, these steady states can have toroidal current densities either peaked on the magnetic axis or hollow. These two kinds of equilibria may be regarded as a bifurcation in connection with symmetry properties of the distribution functions on the magnetic axis.

The objective of the IGNITEX Project is to produce and control ignited plasmas for scientific study in the simplest and least expensive way possible. The original concept was proposed by both physics and engineering researchers along the following line of thought. Question: Is there any theoretically simple, compact and reliable way of achieving fusion ignition according to the results of the fusion research program for the last decades Answer: Yes. An experiment to be carried out in an ohmically heated compact tokamak device with 20 T field on plasma axis. Question: Is there any practical way to carry out that experiment at low cost in the near term Answer: Yes. Using a single-turn coil magnet system with homopolar power supplies.

The objective of the IGNITEX Project is to produce and control ignited plasmas for scientific study in the simplest and least expensive way possible. The original concept was proposed by both physics and engineering researchers along the following line of thought. Question: Is there any theoretically simple, compact and reliable way of achieving fusion ignition according to the results of the fusion research program for the last decades? Answer: Yes. An experiment to be carried out in an ohmically heated compact tokamak device with 20 T field on plasma axis. Question: Is there any practical way to carry out that experiment at low cost in the near term? Answer: Yes. Using a single-turn coil magnet system with homopolar power supplies.

We present a new technique for reconciling force-balance models with diagnostic observations via the statistical theory of Bayesian analysis. This method forms the backbone of a new data analysis code called BEAST (Bayesian Equilibrium Analysis and Simulation Technique) and is based on refactoring the force-balance relation into two different forward models, each associated with a 'fractional' observation, which are subsequently used in the Bayesian inference of the plasma equilibrium. By using a variant of the nested sampling algorithm, the evidence of the inferred posterior distribution is calculated and provides a relative quantification of how much the inferred equilibrium differs from a force-balance solution. Results are presented for discharges on the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST), which are calculated using pickup coil, flux loop and Motional-Stark Effect (MSE) diagnostic data.

Neutron diagnostics have become a significant means to study energetic particles in high power auxiliary heating plasmas on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Several kinds of neutron diagnostic systems have been implemented for time-resolved measurements of D-D neutron flux, fluctuation, emission profile, and spectrum. All detectors have been calibrated in laboratory, and in situ calibration using 252Cf neutron source in EAST is in preparation. A new technology of digitized pulse signal processing is adopted in a wide dynamic range neutron flux monitor, compact recoil proton spectrometer, and time of flight spectrometer. Improvements will be made continuously to the system to achieve better adaptation to the EAST's harsh γ-ray and electro-magnetic radiation environment.

A study of commercial, tokamak fusion reactors with tritium concentrations and tritium breeding ratios ranging from full deuterium-tritium operation to operation with no tritium breeding is presented. The design basis for these reactors is similar to those of STARFIRE and WILDCAT. Optimum operating temperatures, sizes, toroidal field strengths, and blanket/shield configurations are determined for a sequence of reactor designs spanning the range of tritium breeding, each having the same values of beta, thermal power, and first-wall heat load. Additional reactor parameters, tritium inventories and throughputs, and detailed costs are calculated for each reactor design. The disadvantages, advantages, implications, and ramifications of tritium-depleted operation are presented and discussed.

A study of the MHD stability properties of bean-shaped tokamak plasmas is presented. For ballooning modes, while increased indentation gives larger ..beta.. stable configurations, the existence and accessibility of the second stable region is sensitive to the pressure and safety factor profiles. The second stable region appears at lower ..beta.. values for large aspect ratio and moderately high q-values. Finite-Larmor-radius (FLR) kinetic effects can significantly improve the stability properties. For low q (< 1) operation, long wavelength (n approx. 2,3) internal pressure driven modes occur at modest ..beta../sub p/ values and accessibility to higher ..beta.. operation is unlikely. Indentation modifies the nature of the usually vertical axisymmetric instability, but the mode can be passively stabilized by placing highly conducting plates near to the tips of the plasma bean. At constant q, indentation has a stabilizing effect on tearing modes.

Thermal fatigue tests were performed on prototype beryllium limiter tiles for the JET tokamak using a 30 kW, 1 amp rastered electron beam system. A heat flux of 250 W/cm(2) was applied for 15 seconds to a tile 9.5 cm x 6.35 cm x 1 cm for a total of 10,000 cycles. The only damage to the tile was the formation of thermal fatigue microcracks on the heated surface. The depth of microcracking corresponds closely to the region of cyclic plasticity that was predicted by elastic-plastic finite elements stress analyses. The surface cracking did not cause gross structural failure; hence, the beryllium limiters in JET are expected to survive operation at 250 W/cm(2) for at least 10,000 plasma discharges.

STARFIRE is a 1200 MWe central station fusion electric power plant that utilizes a deuterium-tritium fueled tokamak reactor as a heat source. Emphasis has been placed on developing design features which will provide for simpler assembly and maintenance, and improved safety and environmental characteristics. The major features of STARFIRE include a steady-state operating mode based on continuous rf lower-hybrid current drive and auxiliary heating, solid tritium breeder material, pressurized water cooling, limiter/vacuum system for impurity control and exhaust, high tritium burnup and low vulnerable tritium inventories, superconducting EF coils outside the superconducting TF coils, fully remote maintenance, and a low-activation shield. A comprehensive conceptual design has been developed including reactor features, support facilities and a complete balance of plant. A construction schedule and cost estimate are presented, as well as study conclusions and recommendations.

SOLPS-EIRENE edge code analysis shows that a gas-tight slot divertor geometry with a small-angle (glancing-incidence) target, named the small angle slot (SAS) divertor, can achieve cold, dissipative/detached divertor conditions at relatively low values of plasma density at the outside midplane separatrix. SAS exhibits the following key features: (1) strong enhancement of the buildup of neutral density in a localized region near the plasma strike point on the divertor target; (2) spreading of the cooling front across the divertor target with the slot gradually flaring out from the strike point, thus effectively reducing both heat flux and erosion on the entire divertor target surface. Such a divertor may potentially provide a power and particle handling solution for long pulse advanced tokamaks.

Drift wave turbulence driven by the steep electron and ion temperature gradients in H-mode divertor tokamaks produce scattering of the RF waves used for heating and current drive. The X-ray emission spectra produced by the fast electrons require the turbulence broaden RF wave spectrum. Both the 5 GHz Lower Hybrid waves and the 170 GHz electron cyclotron [EC] RF waves experience scattering and diffraction by the electron density fluctuations. With strong LHCD there are bifurcations in the coupled turbulent transport dynamics giving improved steady-state confinement states. The stochastic scattering of the RF rays makes the prediction of the distribution of the rays and the associated particle heating a statistical problem. Thus, we introduce a Fokker-Planck equation for the probably density of the RF rays. The general frame work of the coupled system of coupled high frequency current driving rays with the low-frequency turbulent transport determines the profiles of the plasma density and temperatures.

In the absence of an internal particle source, plasma turbulence will impose an intrinsic relationship between an inwards pinch and an outwards diffusion resulting in a stationary density profile. The Alcator C-mod tokamak utilizes RF heating and current drive so that fueling only occurs in the vicinity of the separatrix. Discharges that transition from L-mode to I-mode are seen to maintain a self-similar stationary density profile as measured by Thomson scattering. For discharges with negative magnetic shear, an observed rise of the safety factor in the vicinity of the magnetic axis appears to be accompanied by a decrease of electron density, qualitatively consistent with the theoretical expectations.

We reproduce the Greenwald density limit, in all tokamak experiments by using a phenomenologically correct model with parameters in the range of experiments. A simple model of equilibrium evolution and local power balance inside the island has been implemented to calculate the radiation-driven thermo-resistive tearing mode growth and explain the density limit. Strong destabilization of the tearing mode due to an imbalance of local Ohmic heating and radiative cooling in the island predicts the density limit within a few percent. Furthermore, we found the density limit and it is a local edge limit and weakly dependent on impurity densities. Our results are robust to a substantial variation in model parameters within the range of experiments.

We reproduce the Greenwald density limit, in all tokamak experiments by using a phenomenologically correct model with parameters in the range of experiments. A simple model of equilibrium evolution and local power balance inside the island has been implemented to calculate the radiation-driven thermo-resistive tearing mode growth and explain the density limit. Strong destabilization of the tearing mode due to an imbalance of local Ohmic heating and radiative cooling in the island predicts the density limit within a few percent. Furthermore, we found the density limit and it is a local edge limit and weakly dependent on impurity densities. Ourmore » results are robust to a substantial variation in model parameters within the range of experiments.« less

Physics elements and advances crucial for the development of axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium reconstruction to support plasma operation and data analysis in the DIII-D tokamak are reviewed. A response function formalism and a Picard linearization scheme are used to efficiently combine the equilibrium and the fitting iterations and search for the optimum solution vector. Algorithms to incorporate internal current and pressure profile measurements, topological constraints, and toroidal plasma rotation into the equilibrium reconstruction are described. Choice of basis functions and boundary conditions essential for accurate reconstruction of L- and H-mode equilibrium plasma boundary and current and pressure profiles is discussed. The computational structure used to efficiently integrate these elements into the equilibrium reconstruction code EFIT is summarized.

EFIT(Equilibrium Fitting) code is successfully transplanted for HL-2A tokamak parameters. The evolution of the equilibrium configurations for shot 2898 is simulated. It is shown that the discharge starts with a limiter configuration and develops into a divertor configuration gradually after t = 200 ms. The latter lasts until the end of the discharge at t = 900 ms. The evolution of the major plasma shape parameters such as the boundary magnetic fluxes, the positions of the x-point and magnetic axis, and the minor radii obtained are calculated and compared with the experimental results. The agreement between the simulation and experiments are shown to be reasonable. The possibility for discharge quality improvement is discussed.

A statistical study of the measurement requirements necessary to infer the current profile in the pedestal of the DIII-D tokamak via motional Stark effect (MSE) and lithium beam diagnostics has been performed. Error in the edge magnetic probes and flux loops, Thomson scattering, and MSE and lithium beam polarimetry was systematically varied to determine the uncertainty in inference of the current profile via magnetic reconstructions using EFIT. It will be shown that edge MSE or lithium beam data accurate to 0.1 deg is sufficient to resolve the peak edge current density to within 20%. This accuracy in the current profile is needed for validation of the peeling-ballooning stability model. Future work using a Hall probe to directly measure the magnetic field components in the plasma edge and SOL to further constrain edge current reconstruction will be presented.

Observations of improved radio frequency (rf) heating efficiency in ITER relevant high-confinement (H-)mode plasmas on the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment are investigated by whole-device linear simulation. The steady-state rf electric field is calculated for various antenna spectra and the results examined for characteristics that correlate with observations of improved or reduced rf heating efficiency. We find that launching toroidal wave numbers that give fast-wave propagation in the scrape-off plasma excites large amplitude (∼kV m(-1)) coaxial standing modes between the confined plasma density pedestal and conducting vessel wall. Qualitative comparison with measurements of the stored plasma energy suggests that these modes are a probable cause of degraded heating efficiency.

A numerical study of several sequences of tokamak equilibria derived from two flux conserving sequences confirms the tendency of high n ideal MHD ballooning modes to stabilize for values of the plasma beta greater than a second critical beta, for sufficiently favorable equilibria. The major stabilizing effect of increasing the inverse rotational transform profile q(Psi) for equilibria with the same flux surface geometry is shown. The unstable region shifts toward larger shear d ln q/d ln ..gamma.. and the width of the region measured in terms of the poloidal beta or a pressure gradient parameter, for fixed shear, decreases. The smaller aspect ratio sequences are more sensitive to changes in q and have less stringent limits on the attainable value of the plasma beta in the high beta stable region. Finally, the disconnected mode approximation is shown to provide a reasonable description of the second high beta stability boundary.

Magnetic containment of the plasma in nuclear fusion reactors of the Tokamak type requires electromagnets with insulation which must withstand high temperatures and thermal shocks as well as ionizing radiation in various forms and electric fields, and mechanical loads. Insulation materials to ensure adequate thermophysical and mechanical properties are evaluated, followed by design of insulation systems with satisfactory performance characteristics. Data on neutron fluence energy characteristics and radiation absorption doses during neutron interactions are essential for such an evaluation. Materials considered for insulation in electromagnets with superconductor and cryoresistance windings are glass mica tape with epoxy compound impregnation, glass cloth with epoxy compound impregnation (STE), polyimide glass cloth with adhesive coating (LSNL), glass Textolite with epoxy phenolic binder (STEN), epoxy resin paste with mineral fillers (PE), and polyurethane compound modified by epoxy resin with mineral filler (KPU).

Recent scientific and technical progress in magnetic fusion experiments has resulted in the achievement of plasma parameters (density and temperature) which enabled the production of significant bursts of fusion power from deuterium-tritium fuels and the first studies of the physics of burning plasmas. The key scientific issues in the reacting plasma core are plasma confinement, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability, and the confinement and loss of energetic fusion products from the reacting fuel ions. Progress in the development of regimes of operation which have both good confinement and are MHD stable have enabled a broad study of burning plasma physics issues. A review of the technical and scientific results from the deuterium-tritium experiments on the Joint European Torus (JET) and the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) is given with particular emphasis on alpha-particle physics issues.

The parameters of molecular plasma in closed magnetic trap is studied in this paper. Using the system of molecular diagnostics, which was designed by the authors on the «Tokamak T-10» facility, the radiation of hydrogen isotopes at the plasma edge is investigated. The scheme of optical radiation registration within visible spectrum is described. For visualization, identification and processing of registered molecular spectra a new software is developed using MatLab environment. The software also includes electronic atlas of electronic-vibrational-rotational transitions for molecules of protium and deuterium. To register radiation from limiter cross-section a network control system is designed using the means of the Internet/Intranet. Remote control system diagram and methods are given. The examples of web-interfaces for working out equipment control scenarios and viewing of results are provided. After test run in Intranet, the remote diagnostic system will be accessible through Internet.

Numerical calculations have been performed to study the MHD activity in high-..beta.. tokamaks such as ISX-B. These initial value calculations built on earlier low ..beta.. techniques, but the ..beta.. effects create several new numerical issues. These issues are discussed and resolved. In addition to time-stepping modules, our system of computer codes includes equilibrium solvers (used to provide an initial condition) and output modules, such as a magnetic field line follower and an X-ray diagnostic code. The transition from current driven modes at low ..beta.. to predominantly pressure driven modes at high ..beta.. is described. The nonlinear studies yield X-ray emissivity plots which are compared with experiment.

The efficient and safe operation of large fusion devices strongly relies on the plasma configuration inside the vacuum chamber. It is important to construct the proper plasma equilibrium with a desired plasma configuration. In order to construct the target configuration, a shape constraint module has been developed in the tokamak simulation code (TSC), which controls the poloidal flux and the magnetic field at several defined control points. It is used to construct the double null, lower single null, and quasi-snowflake configurations for the required target shape and calculate the required PF coils current. The flexibility and practicability of this method have been verified by the simulated results. Project supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2014GB103000 and 2014GB110003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11305216, 11305209, and 11375191), and External Cooperation Program of BIC, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. GJHZ201303).

A simple zero dimensional model for a tokamak disruption is developed to evaluate the avalanche multiplication of a runaway primary seed during the current quench phase of a fast disruptive event. Analytical expressions for the plateau runaway current, the energy of the runaway beam, and the runaway energy distribution function are obtained allowing the identification of the parameters dominating the formation of the runaway current during disruptions. The effect of the electromagnetic coupling to the vessel and the penetration of the external magnetic energy during the disruption current quench as well as of the collisional dissipation of the runaway current at high densities are investigated. Current profile shape effects during the formation of the runaway beam are also addressed by means of an upgraded one-dimensional model.

Hot tail runaway electron generation is caused by incomplete thermalization of the electron velocity distribution during rapid plasma cooling. It is an important runaway electron mechanism in tokamak disruptions if the thermal quench phase is sufficiently fast. Analytical estimates of the density of produced runaway electrons are derived for cases of exponential-like temperature decay with a cooling rate lower than the collision frequency. Numerical simulations, aided by the analytical results, are used to compare the strength of the hot tail runaway generation with the Dreicer mechanism for different disruption parameters (cooling rate, post-thermal quench temperature, and electron density) assuming that no losses of runaway electrons occur. It is seen that the hot tail runaway production is going to be the dominant of these two primary runaway mechanisms in ITER [R. Aymar et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 44, 519 (2002)].

> For ITER-relevant runaway electron studies, such as suppression, mitigation, termination and/or control of a runaway beam, it is important to obtain the runaway electrons after the disruption. In this paper we report on the first discharges achieved with a post-disruptive runaway electron beam, termed a `runaway plateau', in the COMPASS tokamak. The runaway plateau is produced by a massive gas injection of argon. Almost all of the disruptions with runaway electron plateaus occurred during the plasma current ramp-up phase. The Ar injection discharges with and without a runaway plateau were compared for various parameters. Parametrisation of the discharges shows that the COMPASS disruptions fulfil the range of parameters important for runaway plateau occurrence. These parameters include electron density, electric field, disruption speed, effective safety factor, and the maximum current quench electric field. In addition to these typical parameters, the plasma current value just before the massive gas injection proved to be surprisingly important.

The possibility of using massive quantities of injected deuterium with and without additional admixture of lesser quantities of higher-Z impurities to effect fast thermal shutdown of a tokamak discharge without causing runaway electron avalanching is systematically studied. It is found that various combinations of deuterium alone and deuterium with impurities (helium, nitrogen, argon, and krypton) can provide acceptable runaway-free thermal shutdown. The admixture of impurities cited reduces the quantity of deuterium needed and also reduces the radiative cooling time needed for the plasma to reach final thermal equilibrium, where radiation losses balance ohmic input. In contrast, the addition of neon does not appreciably reduce deuterium quantity or promote faster cooling. This difference relative to the other impurity studies can be understood from the radiation versus plasma temperature characteristics for neon.

The requirements for ignition in a tokamak reactor with INTOR-like parameters were studied using a one-dimensional transport code. With empirical electron energy diffusivity Chi/sub e/, ignition was obtained with 60 to 75 MW of neutral beam injection at a volume average pressure ratio = 4 to 5% under a variety of conditions. Charging Chi/sub e/ gave ignition at the same if the plasma minor radius varied as a proportional to Chi/sub e/sup 1/2/. The maximum impurity concentration which allows ignition was found to be comparable to that for the much simpler case of a homogeneous plasma with radiative losses only. In long pulse simulations with efficient helium pumping, the maximum toroidal field ripple which allowed ignition was 2.0% (peak to peak) at the plasma edge. Ignition was maintained with over 99% recycling of helium ash using 5% less than maximum ripple.

Considerable interest in the observation of forbidden spectral lines from highly ionized atoms in tokamak plasmas is related to the significance of such observations for plasma diagnostic applications. Atomic data for the elements Ti Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, and Kr have been published by Feldman et al. (1980) and Bhatia et al. (1980). The present investigation is concerned with collisional excitation rate coefficients and radiative decay rates, which are interpolated for ions of elements between calcium, and krypton and for levels of the 2s2 2pk, 2s 2p(k+1), and 2p(k+2) configurations, and for the O I, N I, C I, B I, and Be I isoelectronic sequences. The provided interpolated atomic data can be employed to calculate level populations and relative line intensities for ions of the considered sequences, taking into account levels of the stated configurations. Important plasma diagnostic information provided by the forbidden lines includes the ion temperature

Gamma ray diagnostics has been developed in the EAST tokamak recently. Six BGO scintillator detectors are arranged on the down-half cross-section and pointed at the up-half cross-section of plasma, with space resolution about 15 cm and energy range from 0.3 MeV to 6 MeV. Three main gamma ray peaks in the energy spectra have been observed and are identified as the results of nuclear reactions (207)Pb(n, n')(207m)Pb, H(n, γ) D, and D(p, γ)(3)He, respectively. Upgrading of the system is in progress by using LaBr3(Ce) scintillator, fast photo-multiplier tubes, and a fully digital data acquisition system based on high sample frequency digitizers with digital pulse processing algorithms.

A filterscope diagnostic system has been mounted to observe the line emission and visible bremsstrahlung emission from plasma on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak during the 2014 campaign. By this diagnostic system, multiple wavelengths including Dα (656.1 nm), Dγ (433.9 nm), He ii (468.5 nm), Li i (670.8 nm), Li ii (548.3 nm), C iii (465.0 nm), O ii (441.5 nm), Mo i (386.4 nm), W i (400.9 nm), and visible bremsstrahlung radiation (538.0 nm) are monitored with corresponding wavelength filters. All these multi-channel signals are digitized at up to 200 kHz simultaneously. This diagnostic plays a crucial role in studying edge localized modes and H-mode plasmas, due to the high temporal resolution and spatial resolution that have been designed into it.

Low-activation ferritic steels are leading material candidates for use in next-generation fusion development experiments such as a prospective component test facility and DEMO power reactor. Understanding the interaction of plasmas with a ferromagnetic wall will provide crucial physics for these facilities. In order to study ferromagnetic effects in toroidal geometry, a ferritic wall upgrade was designed and installed in the High Beta Tokamak-Extended Pulse (HBT-EP). Several material options were investigated based on conductivity, magnetic permeability, vacuum compatibility, and other criteria, and the material of choice (high-cobalt steel) is characterized. Installation was accomplished quickly, with minimal impact on existing diagnostics and overall machine performance, and initial results demonstrate the effects of the ferritic wall on plasma stability.

Neutron diagnostics have become a significant means to study energetic particles in high power auxiliary heating plasmas on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Several kinds of neutron diagnostic systems have been implemented for time-resolved measurements of D-D neutron flux, fluctuation, emission profile, and spectrum. All detectors have been calibrated in laboratory, and in situ calibration using (252)Cf neutron source in EAST is in preparation. A new technology of digitized pulse signal processing is adopted in a wide dynamic range neutron flux monitor, compact recoil proton spectrometer, and time of flight spectrometer. Improvements will be made continuously to the system to achieve better adaptation to the EAST's harsh γ-ray and electro-magnetic radiation environment.

A major component of the versatile heating systems on the DIII-D tokamak is the gyrotron complex. This system routinely operates at 110 GHz with 4.7 MW-generated rf power for electron cyclotron heating and current drive. The complex is being upgraded with the addition of new depressed collector potential gyrotrons operating at 117.5 GHz and generating rf power in excess of 1.0 MW each. The long-term upgrade plan calls for 10 gyrotrons at the higher frequency being phased in as resources permit, for an injected power near 10 MW. This paper presents a summary of the current status of the DIII-D gyrotron complex, its performance, individual components, testing procedures, operational parameters, plans, and a brief summary of the experiments for which the system is currently being used.

An improved analysis of the linear stage of the internal kink mode has been developed to include plasma rotation and finite aspect ratio effects. The linear instabiliy growth rates are increased by the plasma rotation. A pseudo-variational, bilinear formalism is used to discretize the linear instability equations; Fourier decomposition is used in the periodic coordinate, and a mixed-finite element procedure is adopted in the radial direction. The numerical studies with the resulting PEST-like code can be used to predict the complex plasma eigenfrequencies. The finite aspect ratio results are similar to the large aspect ratio results for flow instability. The complex instability frequencies found in the ``fishbone`` and TAE modes would be strong determined by the large plasma rotation velocities observed in present-day tokamak devices. These effects could be studied by using the computationally convenient bilinear form derived from the Frieman-Rotenberg equation.

The resonant excitations of high-[ital n] magnetohydrodynamic instabilities by the energetic ions/alpha particles in tokamaks are theoretically analyzed. Here, [ital n] is the toroidal mode number. The magnetohydrodynamic eigenmodes, typically, consist of two-scale structures; one corresponds to the singular ( inertial'') region and the other the regular (ideal) region. Due to the finite-size orbits, the energetic particle contributions in the singular region are suppressed. Analytical dispersion relations can be derived via the asymptotic matching analysis. The dispersion relations have the generic form of the fishbone'' dispersion relation [Phys. Rev. Lett. [bold 52], 1122 (1984)] and demonstrate, in particular, the existence of two types of modes; that is, the discrete gap mode and the energetic-particle continuum mode. Specific expressions are given for both the kinetic ballooning modes and the toroidal Alfven modes.

An improved analysis of the linear stage of the internal kink mode has been developed to include plasma rotation and finite aspect ratio effects. The linear instabiliy growth rates are increased by the plasma rotation. A pseudo-variational, bilinear formalism is used to discretize the linear instability equations; Fourier decomposition is used in the periodic coordinate, and a mixed-finite element procedure is adopted in the radial direction. The numerical studies with the resulting PEST-like code can be used to predict the complex plasma eigenfrequencies. The finite aspect ratio results are similar to the large aspect ratio results for flow instability. The complex instability frequencies found in the fishbone'' and TAE modes would be strong determined by the large plasma rotation velocities observed in present-day tokamak devices. These effects could be studied by using the computationally convenient bilinear form derived from the Frieman-Rotenberg equation.

The wave-induced fluxes of energetic-trapped ions during ICRF heating of tokamak plasmas are calculated using quasilinear equations. A simple single particle model of this transport mechanism is also given. Both a convective flux proportional to k/sub phi/vertical bar E/sub +/vertical bar/sup 2/ and a diffusive flux proportional to k/sub phi//sup 2/vertical bar E/sub +/vertical bar/sup 2/ are found. Here, k/sub phi/ is the toroidal wave number and E/sub +/ is the left-hand polarized wave field. The convective flux may become significant for large k/sub phi/ if the wave spectrum is asymmetric in k/sub phi/. But for the conditions of most previous experiments, these calculations indicate that radial transport driven directly by the ICRF wave is unimportant.

A time-of-flight system has been developed to measure the energy spectrum of neutral deuterium atoms emitted from the PLT Tokamak plasma in the energy range 20 to 1000 eV. D/sup 0/ neutrals are mechanically chopped by a rotating 25 cm OD stainless steel disc with 24 .025 cm wide slots photo-etched at an 11.4 cm radius. The gated neutrals free stream 181 cm where they impinge on a Cu-Be disc, thereby ejecting secondary electrons which are collected and amplified by an electron multiplier. Since the energy dependence of the Cu-Be secondary emission coefficient as well as the multiplier gain are known from prior calibration, quantitative D/sup 0/ fluxes can be determined.

Energetic ion transport due to microturbulence is investigated in magnetohydrodynamic-quiescent plasmas by way of neutral beam injection in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)]. A range of on-axis and off-axis beam injection scenarios are employed to vary relevant parameters such as the character of the background microturbulence and the value of E{sub b}/T{sub e}, where E{sub b} is the energetic ion energy and T{sub e} the electron temperature. In all cases, it is found that any transport enhancement due to microturbulence is too small to observe experimentally. These transport effects are modeled using numerical and analytic expectations that calculate the energetic ion diffusivity due to microturbulence. It is determined that energetic ion transport due to coherent fluctuations (e.g., Alfvén eigenmodes) is a considerably larger effect and should therefore be considered more important for ITER.

The first experiments on noninductive current drive (CD) using lower hybrid waves in a spherical tokamak are described. Waves at 2.45 GHz were launched by a 10 waveguide grill with 120° phase shift between neighbouring waveguides. The experimental results for a novel poloidal slowing-down scheme are described. The CD efficiency is found to be somewhat larger than that predicted theoretically whilst at the same time being somewhat less than that for standard tokamak lower hybrid CD. Geodesic acoustic modes (GAM) have been discovered in Globus-M. GAMs are localized 2-3 cm inside the separatrix. The GAM frequency agrees with theory. The mode structures of plasma density and magnetic field oscillation at the GAM frequency have been studied. Fast particle confinement during neutral beam injection has been investigated and numerically simulated. Alfvén instabilities excited by fast particles were detected by a toroidal Mirnov probe array. Their excitation conditions are discussed and the dynamics of fast ion losses induced by Alfvén eigenmodes is presented. Preliminary experiments on the isotopic effect influence on global confinement in the ohmic heating (OH) regime are described. Scrape-off layer (SOL) parameters were measured and compared with results from self-consistent integrated transport modelling. Results showed that SOL width scales inversely proportional to plasma current. The behaviour of an a priori damaged tungsten divertor plate mock-up exposed to plasma flows was investigated. Preliminary conclusions are that the initial damage gives rise to a loose layer formation with low thermal conductivity right beneath the surface. Finally, engineering design issues of the next step—Globus-M2 (1 T, 500 kA) and the status of component manufacture are described.

A state-of-the-art plasma control system has been constructed for use on the DIII-D tokamak to provide high speed real time data acquisition and feedback control of DIII-D plasma parameters. This new system has increased the precision to which discharge shape and position parameters can be maintained and has provided the means to rapidly change from one plasma configuration to another. The capability to control the plasma total energy and the ICRF antenna loading resistance has been demonstrated. The speed and accuracy of this digital system will allow control of the current drive and heating systems in order to regulate the current and pressure profiles and diverter power deposition in the DIII-D machine. Use of this system will allow the machine and power supplies to be better protected from undesirable operating regimes. The advanced control system is also suitable for control algorithm development for future machines in these areas and others such as disruption avoidance. The DIII-D tokamak facility is operated for the US Department of Energy by General Atomics Company (GA) in San Diego, California. The DIII-D experimental program will increase emphasis on rf heating and current drive in the near future and is installing a cryopumped divertor ring during the fall of 1992. To improve the flexibility of this machine for these experiments, the new shape control system was implemented. The new advanced plasma control system has enhanced the capabilities of the DIII-D machine and provides a data acquisition and control platform that promises to be useful far beyond its original charter.

The first neutral beam (NB) injection system of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) tokamak was partially completed in 2010 with only 1∕3 of its full design capability, and NB heating experiments were carried out during the 2010 KSTAR operation campaign. The ion source is composed of a JAEA bucket plasma generator and a KAERI large multi-aperture accelerator assembly, which is designed to deliver a 1.5 MW, NB power of deuterium at 95 keV. Before the beam injection experiments, discharge, and beam extraction characteristics of the ion source were investigated. The ion source has good beam optics in a broad range of beam perveance. The optimum perveance is 1.1-1.3 μP, and the minimum beam divergence angle measured by the Doppler shift spectroscopy is 0.8°. The ion species ratio is D(+):D(2)(+):D(3)(+) = 75:20:5 at beam current density of 85 mA/cm(2). The arc efficiency is more than 1.0 A∕kW. In the 2010 KSTAR campaign, a deuterium NB power of 0.7-1.5 MW was successfully injected into the KSTAR plasma with a beam energy of 70-90 keV. L-H transitions were observed within a wide range of beam powers relative to a threshold value. The edge pedestal formation in the T(i) and T(e) profiles was verified through CES and electron cyclotron emission diagnostics. In every deuterium NB injection, a burst of D-D neutrons was recorded, and increases in the ion temperature and plasma stored energy were found.

An investigation is made into the electron temperature perturbations associated with tearing modes in tokamak plasmas, with a view to determining the mode structure using Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) data. It is found that there is a critical magnetic island width below which the conventional picture where the temperature is flattened inside the separatrix is invalid. This effect comes about because of the stagnation of magnetic field lines in the vicinity of the rational surface and the finite parallel thermal conductivity of the plasma. For islands whose widths lie below the critical value there is no flattening of the electron temperature inside the separatrix. Such islands have quite different ECE signatures to conventional magnetic islands. In fact the two island types could, in principle, be differentiated experimentally. It should also be possible to map out the outer ideal magnetohydrodynamical eigenfunctions using ECE data. Islands whose widths are much less than the critical value are not destabilized by the perturbed bootstrap current, unlike conventional magnetic islands. This effect is found to have a number of very interesting consequences and may, indeed, provide an explanation for some puzzling experimental results regarding error field induced magnetic reconnection. All islands whose widths are much greater than the critical width possess a boundary layer on the separatrix which enables heat to be transported from one side of the island to the other via the X-point region. The structure of this boundary layer is described in some detail. Finally, the critical island width is found to be fairly substantial in conventional tokamak plasmas, provided that the long mean free path nature of parallel heat transport and the anomalous nature of perpendicular heat transport are taken into account in the calculation.

In the ``death-ray'' regime often seen in tokamak edge plasma experiments, the downstream electron pressure, as measured by Langmuir probes at the divertor plate, exceeds the upstream values by nearly a factor of 2 over a narrow radial region at the strike point [1,2]. However, recent studies on Alcator C-Mod indicate that the death-ray over-pressure may be a result of local plasma perturbation by the negative probe bias [3]. We investigate the effects of probe perturbation of the plasma using the tokamak edge fluid code UEDGE. The code models a slab-like configuration roughly matching the basic dimensions and characteristics of edge plasma in Alcator C-Mod near detachment, where the death-ray is often observed. In the code setup, a small axisymmetric segment of target plate is biased, which mimics a plate-mounted Langmuir probe. It is observed in the simulations that at sufficiently large negative bias voltage the probe substantially modifies the local plasma characteristics. Moreover, the simulations reproduce the overpressure along the field line, similar to the experimental death-ray; pointing to the interplay of ion-neutral momentum exchange and the sheath boundary conditions [4].[4pt] [1] D. Brunner et al., APS DPP 2010, poster TP9.00069;[0pt] [2] B. LaBombard et al., J. Nucl. Mater. 241-243, 149-166 (1997);[0pt] [3] A. Loarte et al., Nucl. Fusion 38, 331 (1998);[0pt] [4] M.V. Umansky et al., Contrib. Plasma Phys., accepted (2011).

The superconducting magnet system for the Tokamak Physics experiment (TPX) will be the first all superconducting magnet system for a Tokamak, where the poloidal field coils, in addition to the toroidal field coils are superconducting. The magnet system is designed to operate in a steady state mode, and to initiate the plasma discharge ohmically. The toroidal field system provides a peak field of 4.0 Tesla on the plasma axis at a plasma major radius of 2.25 m. The peak field on the niobium 3-tin, cable-in-conduit (CIC) conductor is 8.4 Tesla for the 16 toroidal field coils. The toroidal field coils must absorb approximately 5 kW due to nuclear heating, eddy currents, and other sources. The poloidal field system provides a total of 18 volt seconds to initiate the plasma and drive a plasma current up to 2 MA. The poloidal field system consists of 14 individual coils which are arranged symmetrically above and below the horizontal mid plane. Four pairs of coils make up the central solenoid, and three paris of poloidal ring coils complete the system. The poloidal field coils all use a cable-in-conduit conductor, using either niobium 3-tin (NB{sub 3}Sn) or niobium titanium (NbTi) superconducting strands depending on the operating conditions for that coil. All of the coils are cooled by flowing supercritical helium, with inlet and outlet connections made on each double pancake. The superconducting magnet system has gone through a conceptual design review, and is in preliminary design started by the LLNL/MIT/PPPL collaboration. A number of changes have been made in the design since the conceptual design review, and are described in this paper.

An overview of the recent research work on the J-TEXT tokamak over the last two years is presented. A series of experiments and simulations of the interaction between resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) and plasma were carried out on the J-TEXT tokamak. The results show that the m/n = 2/1 (m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively) mode locking is obtained with sufficiently large RMPs. And suppression of the m/n = 2/1 tearing mode by moderate magnetic perturbation amplitude is also observed. With experimental parameters as input, both mode locking and mode suppression by RMPs are simulated by nonlinear numerical modelling based on reduced magnetohydrodynamic equations. The simulations are in good agreement with the experimental observations. Density modulation using gas puffing is carried out on J-TEXT to evaluate the particle transport parameters in a typical J-TEXT discharge, including diffusion coefficient and convective velocity. Inverse sawtooth-like activity caused by neon gas injection is observed. The inverse sawtooth-like activity occurs only when the amount of neon impurity exceeds a threshold. Nevertheless, other impurities such as helium and argon cannot trigger such events. With the aid of a soft x-ray detector array, the runaway electron beam following disruptions is visible directly. A high-resolution far infrared polarimeter/interferometer, based on a three-wave technique, was developed and it observes the perturbations associated with sawtooth and tearing mode activities; the first result of the current density profile reconstruction is provided. An x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer is designed to receive the Kα line of Ar XVII and its satellites. The electron temperature obtained from line ratios of the W line to its satellites is 750 eV, and the ion temperature deduced from the Doppler broadening of the W line is 330 eV.

Heating with ICRF waves is a well-established method on present-day tokamaks and one of the heating systems foreseen for ITER. However, further work is still needed to test and optimize its performance in fusion devices with metallic high-Z plasma facing components (PFCs) in preparation of ITER and DEMO operation. This is of particular importance for the bulk ion heating capabilities of ICRF waves. Efficient bulk ion heating with the standard ITER ICRF scheme, i.e. the second harmonic heating of tritium with or without {sup 3}He minority, was demonstrated in experiments carried out in deuterium-tritium plasmas on JET and TFTR and is confirmed by ICRF modelling. This paper focuses on recent experiments with {sup 3}He minority heating for bulk ion heating on the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak with ITER-relevant all-tungsten PFCs. An increase of 80% in the central ion temperature T{sub i} from 3 to 5.5 keV was achieved when 3 MW of ICRF power tuned to the central {sup 3}He ion cyclotron resonance was added to 4.5 MW of deuterium NBI. The radial gradient of the T{sub i} profile reached locally values up to about 50 keV/m and the normalized logarithmic ion temperature gradients R/LT{sub i} of about 20, which are unusually large for AUG plasmas. The large changes in the T{sub i} profiles were accompanied by significant changes in measured plasma toroidal rotation, plasma impurity profiles and MHD activity, which indicate concomitant changes in plasma properties with the application of ICRF waves. When the {sup 3}He concentration was increased above the optimum range for bulk ion heating, a weaker peaking of the ion temperature profile was observed, in line with theoretical expectations.

This thesis presents an experimental study of neutral particle dynamics in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The primary diagnostic used is a set of six neutral pressure gauges, including special-purpose gauges built for in situ tokamak operation. While a low main chamber neutral pressure coincides with high plasma confinement regimes, high divertor pressure is required for heat and particle flux dispersion in future devices such as ITER. Thus we examine conditions that optimize divertor compression, defined here as a divertor-to-midplane pressure ratio. We find both pressures depend primarily on the edge plasma regimes defined by the scrape-off-layer heat transport. While the maximum divertor pressure is achieved at high core plasma densities corresponding to the detached divertor state, the maximum compression is achieved in the high-recycling regime. Variations in the divertor geometry have a weaker effect on the neutral pressures. For otherwise similar plasmas the divertor pressure and compression are maximum when the strike point is at the bottom of the vertical target plate. We introduce a simple flux balance model, which allows us to explain the divertor neutral pressure across a wide range of plasma densities. In particular, high pressure sustained in the detached divertor (despite a considerable drop in the recycling source) can be explained by scattering of neutrals off the cold plasma plugging the divertor throat. Because neutrals are confined in the divertor through scattering and ionization processes (provided the mean-free-paths are much shorter than a typical escape distance) tight mechanical baffling is unnecessary. The analysis suggests that two simple structural modifications may increase the divertor compression in Alcator C-Mod by a factor of about 5. Widening the divertor throat would increase the divertor recycling source, while closing leaks in the divertor structure would eliminate a significant neutral loss mechanism.

The use of a pinhole-type detector to image the high-energy protons produced by interactions of fast particles within the plasma of low field tokamaks such as the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak is explored. The minimum number of detector elements in a pinhole-type detector needed to produce accurate images of the plasma was found to be 144, giving a 5cm by 5cm resolution of the plasma in the R, Z plane. The image is recreated via a combination of singular value decomposition and maximum entropy methods. The proton production rate is a function of the spatial distribution of fast particles, and so images of the proton production distribution can be used to directly diagnose the fast particle dis-tribution within the plasma. These fast particles are mostly produced by neutral beam injection, and so the methods presented here can be used to more accurately control the neutral beam injection energy to ensure that the heating and current drive is applied to the desired regions of the plasma. As the orbits of the fusion born protons are influenced by the magnetic field within the plasma, a transformation matrix is created to link the detector image with the intial proton distribution within the plasma. To do this, large numbers of test particles are needed. The calculation of the orbits of the test particles is performed using CUDA GPUs which can calculate the orbits of up to 100,000 particles per second. This takes advantage of the embarrassingly parallel nature of the problem, which is ideally suited to calculation on the GPU.

A lumped parameter, state space model for a tokamak transformer including the slow flux penetration in the plasma (skin effect transformer model) is presented. The model does not require detailed or explicit information about plasma profiles or geometry. Instead, this information is lumped in system variables, parameters and inputs. The model has an exact mathematical structure built from energy and flux conservation theorems, predicting the evolution and non-linear interaction of plasma current and internal inductance as functions of the primary coil currents, plasma resistance, non-inductive current drive and the loop voltage at a specific location inside the plasma (equilibrium loop voltage). Loop voltage profile in the plasma is substituted by a three-point discretization, and ordinary differential equations are used to predict the equilibrium loop voltage as a function of the boundary and resistive loop voltages. This provides a model for equilibrium loop voltage evolution, which is reminiscent of the skin effect. The order and parameters of this differential equation are determined empirically using system identification techniques. Fast plasma current modulation experiments with random binary signals have been conducted in the TCV tokamak to generate the required data for the analysis. Plasma current was modulated under ohmic conditions between 200 and 300 kA with 30 ms rise time, several times faster than its time constant L/R ≈ 200 ms. A second-order linear differential equation for equilibrium loop voltage is sufficient to describe the plasma current and internal inductance modulation with 70% and 38% fit parameters, respectively. The model explains the most salient features of the plasma current transients, such as the inverse correlation between plasma current ramp rates and internal inductance changes, without requiring detailed or explicit information about resistivity profiles. This proves that a lumped parameter modelling approach can be used to

The maximum normalized beta achieved in long-pulse tokamak discharges at low collisionality falls significantly below both that observed in short pulse discharges and that predicted by the ideal MHD theory. Recent long-pulse experiments, in particular those simulating the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) [M. Rosenbluth {ital et al.}, {ital Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion} (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1995), Vol. 2, p. 517] scenarios with low collisionality {nu}{sub e{sup {asterisk}}}, are often limited by low-m/n nonideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes. The effect of saturated MHD modes is a reduction of the confinement time by 10{percent}{endash}20{percent}, depending on the island size and location, and can lead to a disruption. Recent theories on neoclassical destabilization of tearing modes, including the effects of a perturbed helical bootstrap current, are successful in explaining the qualitative behavior of the resistive modes and recent results are consistent with the size of the saturated islands. Also, a strong correlation is observed between the onset of these low-m/n modes with sawteeth, edge localized modes (ELM), or fishbone events, consistent with the seed island required by the theory. We will focus on a quantitative comparison between both the conventional resistive and neoclassical theories, and the experimental results of several machines, which have all observed these low-m/n nonideal modes. This enables us to single out the key issues in projecting the long-pulse beta limits of ITER-size tokamaks and also to discuss possible plasma control methods that can increase the soft {beta} limit, decrease the seed perturbations, and/or diminish the effects on confinement. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

Previous observations that suggest a substantial role for nondiffusive energy transport in tokamaks subjected to off-axis electron cyclotron heating (ECH) are compared to the output from a sandpile model. The observations considered include local and global aspects of temperature profile evolution in the DIII-D [for example, C. C. Petty and T. C. Luce, Nucl. Fusion 34, 121 (1994)] and RTP (Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project) [for example, M. R. de Baar, M. N. A. Beurskens, G. M. D. Hogeweij, and N. J. Lopes Cardozo, Phys. Plasmas 6, 4645 (1999)] tokamaks. The sandpile model employed is an extension, to incorporate noncentral fueling, of one used previously to address tokamak physics issues [S. C. Chapman, R. O. Dendy, and B. Hnat, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2814 (2001)]. It is found that there are significant points of resemblance between the phenomenology of the noncentrally fueled sandpile and of the tokamaks with off-axis ECH. This suggests that the essential ingredient of the sandpile model, namely avalanching conditioned by a local critical gradient, may be one of the key transport effects generated by the tokamak plasma physics.

The world's first high-power auxiliary heating experiments in a tight aspect ratio (or spherical) tokamak have been performed on the Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokomak (START) device [Sykes et al., Nucl. Fusion 32, 694 (1992)] at Culham Laboratory, using the 40 keV, 0.5 MW Neutral Beam Injector loaned by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Injection has been mainly of hydrogen into hydrogen or deuterium target plasmas, with a one-day campaign to explore D→D operation. In each case injection provides a combination of higher density operation and effective heating of both ions and electrons. The highest β values achieved to date in START are volume average βT˜11.5% and central beta βO˜50%. Already high, these values are expected to increase further with the use of higher beam power.

Coherent magnetohydrodynamic modes have been observed previously during neutral beam injection in the PDX tokamak (Phys. Rev. Lett. {bold 50}, 891 (1983)) and they have now been seen in the TFTR tokamak (Phys. Fluids {bold 26}, 2958 (1983)). Periodic bursts of oscillations were detected with several plasma diagnostics, and Fokker--Planck calculations show that the populations of trapped particles in both tokamaks are sufficient to account for fishbone destabilization if a resonant interaction, between the mode and the beam ions, is assumed. Estimates of mode parameters are in reasonable agreement with the experiments, and they indicate that the fishbone mode may continue to affect the performance of intensely heated tokamaks.

The aim of nuclear fusion energy research is to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion reactors as a future energy source. The tokamak is the most advanced fusion machine to date, and is most likely the first system to be converted into a reactor. An important subject of nuclear fusion research is the study of the equilibrium and stability of a plasma with respect to large scale displacements. In a tokamak, several instabilities can occur. A class of edge instabilities that occur in the high confinement regime, H-mode, have been called Edge Localised Modes (ELMs). ELMs are relaxation oscillations that cause quasiperiodic energy and particle losses out of the confined plasma into the scrape-off layer. These losses are of concern for future burning fusion plasmas, such as ITER, due to the large transient heat loads expected on plasma facing components in contact with the scrape-off layer. These heat loads may reduce the target lifetime below tolerable levels. Although the existence of ELMs has been known for many years, their physics is not well understood yet. Much effort has been spent world-wide in an attempt to improve the understanding of these instabilities. A review of the present state of ELM research is given. Empirically, at least three types of ELMs have been identified, which are normally classified as type-I, type-II and type-III ELMs. From the point of view of plasma stability, research has increasingly focussed on the role of certain MHD instabilities, namely (finite-n) ballooning and kink (peeling) modes, as well as coupled ballooning-kink modes, leading to the proposition of a theoretical model called the peeling-ballooning cycle. This thesis presents new insight into ELMs obtained from the analysis of experimental data in the JET tokamak, and compares the observations with present theoretical ELM models. Low frequency coherent type-I ELM precursor modes have been identified. Their properties are studied in detail. Precursors with low toroidal

Tokamak performance is often controlled by stability of the edge plasma. Consistent with ``stiff'' transport models, the confinement in tokamak discharges is strongly correlated with the magnitude of the edge pressure pedestal which is limited by MHD stability. Furthermore, the high performance ELM-free H--modes are terminated by low toroidal mode number n, MHD modes driven by high edge pressure gradient, and edge current. We have evaluated low n modes using the δ W code GATO, and both high edge pressure gradient and high edge current density are found to destabilize the n=1, 2, and 3 ideal modes. We have included the self-consistent bootstrap current in the equilibria generation, and have completed a thorough survey of the effects of plasma shape and edge pressure profiles on the edge ballooning stability. The bootstrap current density helps to provide access to the second regime of stability, which is easier for: higher elongation, intermediate triangularity, larger aspect ratio, narrower pedestal width, and higher q_95. The intermediate n stability is being evaluated using a high-mode-number peeling/ ballooning mode model,(J.W. Connor, R.J. Hastie, H.R. Wilson, and R.L. Miller, Phys. Plasmas 5), 2687 (1998). where a critical role is played by the edge current density. This edge model describes the interaction of peeling mode (current driven) and ballooning mode (pressure driven) effects at high, but finite, mode number; a modified ballooning mode formalism is shown to be valid at the plasma edge. Based upon this edge model, a 2D eigenvalue code has been written to determine the stability of these modes for arbitrary shape cross sections, and edge pressure and current profiles including bootstrap current effects. This model suggests a power threshold for L--H transitions and provides a plausible explanation for an ELM cycle. Results will be presented for the pressure gradient and edge current density stability boundaries for a range of shapes and pedestal widths

Tokamak power plants are studied with advanced and conservative design philosophies to identify the impacts on the resulting designs and to provide guidance to critical research needs. Incorporating updated physics understanding and using more sophisticated engineering and physics analysis, the tokamak configurations have developed a more credible basis compared with older studies. The advanced configuration assumes a self-cooled lead lithium blanket concept with SiC composite structural material with 58% thermal conversion efficiency. This plasma has a major radius of 6.25 m, a toroidal field of 6.0 T, a q₉₅ of 4.5, aᵦtotal N of 5.75, an H98 of 1.65, anmore » n/nGr of 1.0, and a peak divertor heat flux of 13.7 MW/m² . The conservative configuration assumes a dual-coolant lead lithium blanket concept with reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel structural material and helium coolant, achieving a thermal conversion efficiency of 45%. The plasma has a major radius of 9.75 m, a toroidal field of 8.75 T, a q₉₅ of 8.0, aᵦtotalN of 2.5, an H₉₈ of 1.25, an n/nGr of 1.3, and a peak divertor heat flux of 10 MW/m² . The divertor heat flux treatment with a narrow power scrape off width has driven the plasmas to larger major radius. Edge and divertor plasma simulations are targeting a basis for high radiated power fraction in the divertor, which is necessary for solutions to keep the peak heat flux in the range 10 to 15 MW/m² . Combinations of the advanced and conservative approaches show intermediate sizes. A new systems code using a database approach has been used and shows that the operating point is really an operating zone with some range of plasma and engineering parameters and very similar costs of electricity. Other papers in this issue provide more detailed discussion of the work summarized here.« less

Tokamak plasmas are unstable against small perturbations that convect resistivity across the confining magnetic field, (')B. The rippling instability is due to the presence of a current along (')B, and a resistivity gradient across (')B. In this thesis the impact on the rippling instability of electron and ion diamagnetic drifts, electron parallel heat conductivity, and electron viscosity is considered. Electromag - netic effects are accounted for, albeit approximately, by means of a vector potential, (')A (PARLL) (')B. The linear, normal mode stability calculations are carried out for a plasma slab in a sheared magnetic field. The Vlasov and Braginskii equations, for ions and electrons respectively, are solved for the current density perturbation, (')J(,1), in terms of the perturbed potentials (phi), (')A(,(PARLL)). Then, the quasineutrality condition ((')(DEL)(.)(')J(,1) = 0), and Ampere's law are used to set up an eigenvalue problem. In the zero-(beta) limit, the problem is solved by perturbations, and a numer- ical JWKB-method. In the finite-(beta) limit, the numerical integration fails to converge if the conditions (phi)((INFIN)), (')A(,(PARLL))((INFIN)) = 0 are used. These diffi- culties are overcome by imposing generalized Sommerfeld radiation conditions derived from first-order asymptotic solutions. It is found that when the electron temperature, T(,e), is low the rippling mode is unstable and becomes more so as T(,e) decreases. For T(,e) large, the mode is stable and tends toward marginal stability. This latter trend is overridden by viscosity. Stabilization is due to heat conduction, and stability is enhanced by ion FLR effects. The real frequencey (omega)(,r) is determined by the electron diamagnetic drift frequencies (omega)(,*('e)), (omega) , but is sensitive to w(,*('i)), (omega) , and (eta)(,i) (=(d ln T(,i))/ (d ln n(,i))). For (eta)(,i) = (eta)(,e) = 1, (omega)(,r) tends asymptotically to (omega) \\as T(,e) increases above 350 eV, but dips below

Tokamak power plants are studied with advanced and conservative design philosophies to identify the impacts on the resulting designs and to provide guidance to critical research needs. Incorporating updated physics understanding and using more sophisticated engineering and physics analysis, the tokamak configurations have developed a more credible basis compared with older studies. The advanced configuration assumes a self-cooled lead lithium blanket concept with SiC composite structural material with 58% thermal conversion efficiency. This plasma has a major radius of 6.25 m, a toroidal field of 6.0 T, a q₉₅ of 4.5, aᵦtotalN of 5.75, an H98 of 1.65, an n/nGr of 1.0, and a peak divertor heat flux of 13.7 MW/m² . The conservative configuration assumes a dual-coolant lead lithium blanket concept with reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel structural material and helium coolant, achieving a thermal conversion efficiency of 45%. The plasma has a major radius of 9.75 m, a toroidal field of 8.75 T, a q₉₅ of 8.0, aᵦtotalN of 2.5, an H₉₈ of 1.25, an n/nGr of 1.3, and a peak divertor heat flux of 10 MW/m² . The divertor heat flux treatment with a narrow power scrape off width has driven the plasmas to larger major radius. Edge and divertor plasma simulations are targeting a basis for high radiated power fraction in the divertor, which is necessary for solutions to keep the peak heat flux in the range 10 to 15 MW/m² . Combinations of the advanced and conservative approaches show intermediate sizes. A new systems code using a database approach has been used and shows that the operating point is really an operating zone with some range of plasma and engineering parameters and very similar costs of electricity. Other papers in this issue provide more detailed discussion of the work summarized here.

Tokamak power plants are studied with advanced and conservative design philosophies in order to identify the impacts on the resulting designs and to provide guidance to critical research needs. Incorporating updated physics understanding, and using more sophisticated engineering and physics analysis, the tokamak configurations have developed a more credible basis compared to older studies. The advanced configuration assumes a self-cooled lead lithium (SCLL) blanket concept with SiC composite structural material with 58% thermal conversion efficiency. This plasma has a major radius of 6.25 m, a toroidal field of 6.0 T, a q95 of 4.5, a {beta}N{sup total} of 5.75, H{sub 98} of 1.65, n/nGr of 1.0, and peak divertor heat flux of 13.7 MW/m{sup 2}. The conservative configuration assumes a dual coolant lead lithium (DCLL) blanket concept with ferritic steel structural material and helium coolant, achieving a thermal conversion efficiency of 45%. The plasma major radius is 9.75 m, a toroidal field of 8.75 T, a q95 of 8.0, a {beta}N{sup total} of 2.5, H{sub 98} of 1.25, n/n{sub Gr} of 1.3, and peak divertor heat flux of 10 MW/m{sup 2}. The divertor heat flux treatment with a narrow power scrape-off width has driven the plasmas to larger major radius. Edge and divertor plasma simulations are targeting a basis for high radiated power fraction in the divertor, which is necessary for solutions to keep the peak heat flux in the range of 10-15 MW/m{sup 2}. Combinations of the advanced and conservative approaches show intermediate sizes. A new systems code using a database approach has been used and shows that the operating point is really an operating zone with some range of plasma and engineering parameters and very similar costs of electricity. Papers in this issue provide more detailed discussion of the work summarized here.